June 30, 2006

Israel vs Hamas...on and on and on

Well I have not written anything for a few days. This was mainly due to the fact that there are so many interesting events unfolding all around the world. Politics in The USA has become slightly more interesting due to the Supreme Court finally saying no to the Administration, which was getting quite used to waging "war" anyway it saw fit. Little things like legality, treaty compliance, civil rights, the Constitution, ethics, and honesty, got pushed to the sidelines...or just got quietly ignored or undermined in Mr Bush's attempt to get a positive result out of his complete blundering in Iraq. So no secret trials for prisoners held in secret jails for Mr. Bush...but it won't change anything. He will still hold prisoners, indefinitely and without charge...he just won't bother to give them a trial, secret or otherwise.

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Then there are the never-ending barkings, bitings, kickings, scratchings, killings, kidnappings, reprisals, bombings, weepings, wailings, and faint little whimpers of hope that we call the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.










Hamas, who without any sense of irony call themselves a government, seems to perversely invite disaster upon the Palestinian people. This time their "military wing" has managed to bring down the might of the Israelis upon the people of the Gaza strip. They did this by tunneling under the border and emerging to kill two Israeli soldiers and wounding and capturing a third. This third soldier has been transported to Gaza and is being held in a secret location.















The Israelis have answered this act of aggression by bombing the Gaza strip temporarily back into the dark ages (knocking out their electricity grid), and preparing to launch an attack, in full force, in order to root out their unfortunate son. Meanwhile they have raided into Gaza quite successfully and captured most of the Palestinian cabinet.

Perhaps this little video may help to show why there is very little hope for a peaceful, political solution to the interminable conflict in this desperate part of the world. Shown here is a person reading, both in Arabic and English, the Hamas charter.



And the wars go on..and on..and on.

June 26, 2006

North Korea in the News

North Korea is once again in the news. It seems that not only do they have a nuclear capability, they now are ready to test a long-range missile with which to deliver this dreaded device. China and Japan are both concerned for the stability of the region, the USA is concerned that the Koreans might terminate California before Arnie does, and a recent poll taken in South Korea tells us that about 60% of the youth there would support North Korea in a war with the USA. This might be construed as good news to those who wish for a re-unification of the two Koreas, but it does not bode well for western world...or the eastern one for that matter.

An article today, in the New York Times, discusses the issue. There have been calls from some Democratic defense experts for a preemptive strike on North Korea to do away with the threat. There have also been calls for the USA to enter into talks with North Korea..which have come to no avail. Nobody seems to know what to do here. How many wars can the USA throw themselves into? Is every perceived threat to be the excuse for military action? Will America declare war on the world itself in order to feel safe?


The USA has an image problem today, not just in those countries that find themselves on the ever-increasing list of unfriendly states, but even among the traditional allied states there is a perception of the USA as being paranoid, militaristic, violent, petty, greedy, and overbearing. In a recent poll in Europe most of those questioned actually placed the USA in first place when asked: what is the greatest threat to world peace today?

The North Koreans have long been encouraged to hate America. The USA has maintained a military presence along the border that separates the two Koreas. But, given the totalitarian nature of the regime in North Korea, most of the population have no idea that they are so perilously close war. They simply have not been told that they are poised in a global nuclear stand-off with the USA.

With the war in Iraq doomed to last long into the next decade, and the war in Afghanistan failing, can America really afford, in terms of money and manpower, to wage further wars in Iran, North Korea, Somalia, and every other hot-spot on the planet? Do they really believe that they can coerce their traditional allies into joining them on their military follies?

I believe it is time to introduce some real diplomacy into American foreign policy. Even a superpower needs to engage with the rest of the world, without the constant flexing of military and economic muscle.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting This man and his cronies are bullies. They display an arrogance and ignorance that beggars belief. They have used 9/11 as an excuse to further a political and economic agenda that pre-dates that tragic event. They have dragged their own and other nations into war to further that agenda. Rather than defeating terrorism in the world, they have managed to increase and empower it, and the world is a much more dangerous place as a result of their misguided attempts at world domination.

If anyone is interested in learning more of Mr. Bush's agenda that can go here and see for themselves: http://www.newamericancentury.org/

That's about it for today.

June 23, 2006

Christians in Politics...Again


There is an article in today's New York Times that speaks about the release of a bi-partisan Senate report on Thursday. This report says that some $5.3 million dollars was paid to Ralph Reed, the ex-leader of the Christian Coalition and one of Mr. Bush's main strategists, by the corrupt lobyist Jack Abramoff on behalf of his clients the Indian Casinos. This money was paid to Mr. Reed for organising Christian opposition to allowing new casinos to open, or existing casinos to expand and therefore compete with Mr. Abramoff's clients.




It seems that this so-called Christian leader, and Republican party guru, is not above a little avarice and hypocracy in order to line his own pockets. But is this really news? Is anyone really surprised? The Christian Coalition is not a religious group at all, it is a political movement that hides its' theocratic agenda behind a false and rather dubious morality and preys on the fears and prejudices of its' blinkered and desperate constituancy. Hypocracy and manipulation, coupled with a lust for power and a love of money, is what this insidous organisation is all about.

This organisation, along with other extremist Christian groups, have captured the Republican party, which was already the party of Big Business, and has the Democrats tembling in fear of their reactionary tactics. The Christian Coalition has now reached the epitome of their power with the (stolen) elections of George W. Bush. Anyone who opposes them is likely to be labled Godless or worse...Liberal.

I found this little video quite amusing. It is nice to know that there are still voices crying in the wilderness that is politics in America.

June 20, 2006

The Great Dictator

It is hard for me to begin this blog. I simply don't know what to say. I don't want to be seen as someone with a gripe...disgruntled...angry. But suppose I am.

I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the world as I have seen it, as I have experienced it, and have been trying to make some sense of it. But it is like trying to make sense of a speeding, out of control train, inside of which I am just another passenger attempting to understand how, and why, I find myself here...and why the train is out of contol. I am no longer concerned about the inevitable crash that looms ahead of me. I am more esoteric in my viewpoint. I only want to understand why it is that the train is so obviously out of control and why the people in charge are so ignorant of that simple fact.

There are always people who think they are in control. But, if history has taught us anything, that is the grand illusion. People in positions of power, like fools who ride on the backs of bronchos, buffalos, bulls, and tigers, always believe that they are in control. But it is never really true. They always come a cropper.

Today there are people who believe in a future that they can dictate. They are convinced that they can control the future of humanity by the sincerety of their beliefs and the boldness of their deeds...if only they have the courage of their convictions and the will to see them through. But this has always been the way of humanity. All of history tells us this.

But our own leaders are not alone in this illusion. There are others in the world, with differing views and visions, who are just as willing to gamble everything, including the earth itself and all who dwell upon it, to see the fulfillment of their dreams.

Religion..Politics...Money...Power...Ideology......these things sicken me more than my own cancer. Sometimes I despair at the thought of what we are doing to ourselves in the name of these terrlble, trifiling ideologies. I almost hope for some sort of evolutionary event that will take away the greatest threat to life on this small, insignificant, and beautiful planet...and yet that would also take away it's only hope...humanity.

Science may see humanity through the finite future of this lonely planet. It may see us into brave new worlds. We might be allowed to explore other worlds, that will live long past the time that is allowed to planet Earth, and we may well prosper long past even the life of our own Sun. But it won't be politics or religion or nationalism that gets us there...it will be science and a true sense of Humanity.

But is there hope?

Not much.

I would like to present a small video of Charles Chaplin...a great artist. He made a satirical film, in 1940, about Nazi Germany , before the USA even entered into WWII. In this film he played two characters: An insignificant Jewish barber and the dictator Adenoid Hynkel, who he happens to resemble. After witnessing the atrocities that are committed by Hynkel's regime, and being mistaken for the evil dictator, the barber finds himself addressing the masses in person and over the radio. This is what he has to say: It sounded corny then, and it may sound corny now, but it will always ring true.

June 16, 2006

Organized Religion

I thought I would edit an older post on organized religion. I had posted a short video of George Carlin having a little rant about the hypocracy of religion. It was quite funny and yet quite true. But, for some unknown reason, the site from which I embedded the video withdrew hosting for that particular video.

So I thought I would show this video instead.




June 15, 2006

Our Final Century: About A Book

A few months ago I read a book by a chap called Sir Martin Rees, who happens to be the Astronomer Royal here in Britain. The book was intriguingly titled Our Final Century. This book is a must read for anyone with any interest in science and the future, or lack of it, of life on Earth.

The book explores the many dangers, natural and man-made, that places the future of life on this planet in great jeopardy. From meteor impacts to genetically engineered viruses, and from nuclear warfare and other forms of WMD to global warming, this superbly written book takes us on a journey through the perils that we face. There is little that we can do about some of these dangers, like comets and super-volcanoes, and it may already be too late to change the things that we might have been able to change...if we had bothered and were willing to pay the costs.

So, in the spirit of the book, I would like to present just one of the many dangers that we may one day face. This little film is narrated in Japanese, which I do not speak and therefore can't translate for you. But the visuals speak for themselves and the Japanese narration just adds to the incomprehensibility of the whole thing. It seems an odd thing to say...but....Enjoy!

June 13, 2006

Justice with Feet of Clay

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingThere is an interesting story from Court TV about a judge in Oklahoma who is about to be tried for masturbating in court. Apparently there are eye witnesses who will swear that he exposed himself and used a "penis pump" while sitting on the bench. After being subjected to the OJ trial, the Michael Jackson trial, and the trials surrounding ENRON, who could blame him for seeking to "amuse" himself while the lawyers were busy doing what lawyers do? Certainly not me.

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I have long since come to terms with the realization that our so-called leaders all walk on feet of clay. Whoever thinks otherwise is just being foolish.

Here in Britain we have become quite used to sex scandals concerning our political leaders. One has to be very careful not to get trampled by the rush of the Sanctimonious to the nearest soap-box where they shout out their shock and outrage for the ever-hungry media.

Concerning this case, I am reminded of the scene in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936), where Longfellow Deeds (Gary Cooper) is explaing why he plays the tuba:


Longfellow Deeds: About my playing the tuba. Seems like a lot of fuss has been made about that. If, if a man's crazy just because he plays the tuba, then somebody'd better look into it, because there are a lot of tuba players running around loose. 'Course, I don't see any harm in it. I play mine whenever I want to concentrate. That may sound funny to some people, but everybody does something silly when they're thinking. For instance, the judge here is, is an O-filler.

Judge May: A what?

Longfellow Deeds: An O-filler. You fill in all the spaces in the O's with your pencil. I was watching him. [general laughter]

Longfellow Deeds: That may make you look a little crazy, Your Honor, just, just sitting around filling in O's, but I don't see anything wrong, 'cause that helps you think. Other people are doodlers.

Judge May: "Doodlers"?

Longfellow Deeds: Uh, that's a word we made up back home for people who make foolish designs on paper when they're thinking: it's called doodling. Almost everybody's a doodler; did you ever see a scratchpad in a telephone booth? People draw the most idiotic pictures when they're thinking. Uh, Dr. von Hallor here could probably think up a long name for it, because he doodles all the time. [general laughter; he takes a sheet off the doctor's notepad]


Longfellow Deeds: Thank you. This is a piece of paper he was scribbling on. I can't figure it out - one minute it looks like a chimpanzee, and the next minute it looks like a picture of Mr. Cedar. You look at it, Judge. Exhibit A for the defense. Looks kind of stupid, doesn't it, Your Honor? But I guess that's all right; if Dr. von Hallor has to, uh, doodle to help him think, that's his business. Everybody does something different: some people are, are ear-pullers; some are nail-biters; that, uh, Mr. Semple over there is a nose-twitcher. [general laughter]

Longfellow Deeds: And the lady next to him is a knuckle-cracker. [general laughter]

Longfellow Deeds: So you see, everybody does silly things to help them think. Well, I play the tuba.

OK, so perhaps it might be prudent to discover if this judge's decisions were influenced by his little distractions (if indeed the allegations prove to be true), or if anyone has suffered any kind of serious trauma as a result of his under-the-bench amusements, but I hardly think we should rush to judgement.

That's about it for today. I am about to make myself a drink, slip into something a little more comfortable, and play with my tuba...although that O-filling thing sounds pretty tempting.

June 11, 2006

London Anti-Terror Police Fiasco


There is an article this morning, on the BBC's website, with the headline : Terror Raid Pair May Sue Police . This article is the latest development in a story that is a micro-version of the war in Iraq.

It all began with a little piece of (false) intelligence. A tip from "a human source", according to the Metropolitan Police, led to the raid of a typical family home in a quiet part of London. 250 policemen, with emergency services in tow, stormed into the house and promptly shot an unarmed man.

They then arrested the whole family, shut down and cordoned off a whole neighborhood, and proceeded to don safety gear and begin to search for Weapons of Mass Destruction.






The search of the small terraced house lasted for a week. The neighborhood was shut down for a week while neighbors and family members were questioned. No WMD's were found. Two brothers arrested in the raid, one of whom was shot descending a staircase as he came to investigate the racket below, were held for a week and then released without charge.







Needless to say this heavy-handed and trigger-happy raid has done little to increase Muslim community support for the anti-terror police and their tactics. Protests have taken place by local Muslims over the raid who saw it as another example of the oppression of Muslims. Muslim leaders in Britain have warned of the danger of a breakdown of trust between the community and the police.

Questions as to why the police acted without gathering any real evidence of a conspiracy, or any evidence of chemical procurement, have yet to be answered. The police have said that they were responding to a tip-off, and they acted with the safety of the public in mind. After the bombings in London last year the police have determined that they had no choice but to take the intelligence seriously and act upon it.

Questions concerning their heavy-handed tactics also need to be addressed. The fact is that they have shot yet another innocent and unarmed civilian during the exercise of their duties.

The police find themselves in quite a conundrum. They must act if they believe the public is in danger. To not do so could be disastrous for the community as a whole and would be grossly negligent on their part. But to act without proper investigation, and to use a "shoot first and ask questions later" policy in the exercise of their duties is unacceptable. The police could find themselves in situations like this on an almost daily basis if malicious rumours and anonymous tips are going to provoke this sort of response from them. They should remember that their duty to protect the community does not mean that they shouldn't use proper police procedures and investigative techniques to gather sufficient enough evidence to warrant arrests and secure convictions...before they start breaking down doors and shooting people in their homes.

June 10, 2006

Naked People and The Cost of Oil




Today marks the day for the third annual World Naked Bike Ride.

In at least twenty-five cities around the world, including London, Chicago, and Sydney, the streets will be filled with spandex-less laddies and, even better, lassies. It's a saddle sniffers paradise...if there ever was one!

You might wonder why, on this overtly political blog, I have chosen to write about this particular event. I'll tell you. It's all about oil..or at least reducing our dependancy on that volitile, expensive, and war inciting product. So I guess I'll do my bit and give them a piece of my own little forum in order to support and applaud their bold and sincere efforts. Plus it gives me a good excuse to put pictures of naked people into my otherwise boring blog.

I cannot take credit for the photographs... I don't even own a camera... but I am sure that whoever did take these photos wouldn't mind them being posted here. It is all in a good cause.




Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting The cost of oil is rising. The price of crude is up over 30% higher than it was a year ago. This is largely due to the continuing crisis in the Middle East. The war in Iraq goes on, despite the demise of al-Qaida's leader in the last week. Oil production in Africa has been curtailed by at least 800,000 barrels a day due to the violence and unrest in that country. And then there is Venezuela, where the national leader is fast becoming a member of the American "Most Wanted" list. Add all these things together, chuck in a few hurricaines for good measure, and then add a certain percentage for gouging and profiteering, and you have a pretty good idea of what the future holds for the price of oil. Here in Britain we are already paying the eqivalent of $6.00 a gallon...and it won't get any better in this tax-happy country.

June 09, 2006

Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran

Zarqawi: One ofThe Living Dead



Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose real name was Ahmad Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayla, is dead. But, in a very real way, he has been that way for quite some time.

Starting life as a small-time criminal in the town of al zarqa, he embraced radical Islam while serving time in a Jordanian prison. After being released from prison in 1999, he traveled to Afghanistan to form links with Osama bin Laden.

Al-Zarqawi returned to Jordan after the soviets were defeated and soon found himself serving a seven year prison sentence for plotting the overthrow of the monarchy. It was his intention to establish an Islamic state, a caliphate, in Jordan. He fled Jordan soon after his release from prison, and was sentenced to death (in absentia) for plotting attacks against the American and Israeli tourists.

The rest of his story is well known. His activities with the insurgency in Iraq, and his provocative stance of pitting Iraqis against each other by bombing Mosques and encouraging civil war between Shi'ite and Suni, and kidnapping and beheading aid workers and other civilians had made him public enemy number one in Iraq.

Zarqawi was a man sentenced to death, hunted by governments and armies, who dealt in violence and death on a daily basis. He was, as most suicide martyrs, a walking dead man. This was brought home to me after reading an interview of some of his family members conducted shortly after his death.

His elder brother, Sayil al-Khalayla, had this to say: "We anticipated that he would be killed for a very long time," He said. "We expected that he would be martyred," He added, "We hope that he will join other martyrs in heaven."

Zarqawi's brother-in-law, Abu Qudama said: "We are not sad that he's dead.To the contrary, we're happy because he's a martyr and he's now in heaven."



Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting But, while there is some cause for relief that Zarqawi has been eliminated, this does not mean that the end of the war in Iraq is any closer. The politicians, American and British, are gloating and celebrating the death of this terrorist the same way that J.Edgar Hoover celebrated the death of John Dillinger. Public enemy number one has been eliminated. But radical Islam is a global war and the death of one man, no matter his infamous notoriety, will not see the end of terrorism.

Far from eliminating the threat of terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have bred thousands of would-be Zarqawis and bin Ladens. They, like Zarqawi, hope for glory of martyrdom. They are indeed the living dead.

So any celebration of Zarqawi's demise should be tempered with the realization that the war goes on..and on..and on.

June 08, 2006

Somalia and the CIA





I thought I'd leave the Iraq/Afghanistan wars alone today and take a look at an interesting turn of events in Somalia. You might remember Somalia from a few years ago. There was an attempt in 1994, by the American military, to capture a warlord named Mohammed Farrah Aidid. The operation was a disaster and the soldiers sent to accomplish this task found themselves surrounded and heavily outnumbered by an angry mob led by the very people they were sent to capture. There was a very touching film, called Blackhawk Down, made about the event.




Somalia is a country ravaged by seemingly endless conflict. The present conflict, which has lasted for over a decade, is being fought by a group of Islamic fundamentalists calling themselves Mujahiddin, who want to establich an Islamic Sharia State in Somalia, and a diverse group of warlords who have joined together, with funding supplied by the CIA, to oppose them.

It is ironic that the last group calling themselves Mujahiddin, who were engaged in a war with the Soviet Union, were themselves heavily financed and armed by the CIA, and that the same warlords we were fighting in 1994 are now being funded by the CIA. Wasn't it them also, along with the Whitehouse, that supported Saddam Hussein in his war against Iran? It would be charitable to say that the American government can't make up it's mind, or that it seems to be involved in constant wars brought about it's own blundering and blinkered short-sightedness. This contrdictory and counter-productive foreign policy that America has followed for the last five decades has left the world in tatters...all except the American world that is. Only one of their mad chickens has come home to roost...on September 11, 2001. The leader of those terrorists was himself once a "friend" of the CIA, who helped him set up training camps for the aptly named Afghan Mujahiddin.

An article in the New York Times today, concerns one of the major, and most recent, effects of the CIA funding of the warlords. The fall of Mogadishu, from the control of the CIA funded warlords, into the hands and control of the Mujahiddin. The CIA, although attempting to thwart the attempts of the Mujahiddin to take control of the country, has managed to accomplish just the opposite.

The article offers us a quote from a govenrment official: "You've got to find and nullify enemy leadership," one senior Bush administration official said. "We are going to support any viable political actor that we think will help us with counterterrorism."
Another passage from the same article offers us this insight: Some Africa experts contend that the United States has lost its focus on how to deal with the larger threat of terrorism in East Africa by putting a premium on its effort to capture or kill a small number of high-level suspects.
The international community does not know what to think about the United States. The devisive and mercurial foreign policies, often accompanied by blatant and unashamed violence and corporate greed, lead many in the world to begin to consider the USA as the number one stumbling block to world peace...if there could ever be such a blessed state of affairs.
And the war goes on..and on...and on.

June 07, 2006

In a Nutshell

June 06, 2006

Theocracy on the March in the USA

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting The ship of state has been hijacked. I do not say this as a joke, but as a statement of fact. It may already be too late to remedy. The hijacking was not an uprising by armed mutineers, nor was it stormed by pirates in bloody battle, it was accomplished by a steady and determined group of zealots who, armed with money, belief, patience, and an easily swayed and militant rabble in support, have quietly gained control of the helm.

I am speaking of that group of "last days" Christians, and their fanatical evangelical supporters. These people, with their own universities and sophisticated lobbying techniques, have managed, over the last few decades, to promote their agenda so successfully that they now control a large part of the American government. The scary thing about this hijacking, by a religious group, is that they are not quiet about their treason....they trumpet their takeover of the government and see it as a stamp of approval from God himself.

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They have placed their seditious acolytes in positions of power, not just in the administrative branch, but in both houses of Congress and on the Supreme Court. They are at war, not just with foreign governments and radical terror organizations, but with America itself. They see America, and the whole world itself, as teeming with evil. We, the people who inhabit the planet, will not be taken into heaven on judgment day. That honour is reserved for a select few, many of them presently working in government or actively engaged in coercing government officials to their will, and they firmly believe that it is their task to set the stage for Amrageddon.

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Their universities and colleges are directing their energies to placing their students and graduates in positions of influence, both in government and the media, with the objective of taking control of those institutions and thereby "guiding" America to "Gods Will". Some might think this a noble endeavour, but I think it is an outrageous assault on democracy.

The Constitution, itself under siege from these seditious zealots, provides for the separation of church and state. This is separation was designed and intended to protect both the religious freedom of citizens from the undue influence of the government, and the government from the undue influence of religious groups. But it will not last, indeed it may already be too late, if these right-wing, blinkered crusaders are allowed to succeed.

I am writing this in response to a documentary I watched last night called "Gods Next Army", about a certain college, one of many that are endowed by the religious right and their corporate supporters, called Patrick Henry College . This college is just six years old and it has more interships in the White House than any other educational institution in America. I would suggest that anyone who is concerned about the state of democracy in the United States take a look at this website and especially their mission statement.

For more information about this and other insights on religion in general, I would suggest that you vistit this page and browse for a few minutes. The government of the United States is in great danger of being taken over by these few zealots and their corporate backers (see the board of trustees for Patrick Henry College).

The question is: Is it already a fait a compli? It just might be too late. Politicians gravitate towards money. Money means votes. Any politician with courage enough to stand against these villians will come across as Godless and Evil, and the "born again" will mass against them.

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction." Blaise Pascal

All I can say is this: So long America...it was nice knowing you.

June 04, 2006

The Logic of the Potential Threat

The painting above depicts the scene of the surrender of Vercingetorix, the famed leader of the tribes of Gaul, to Julius Caesar, who would go on to become dictator of Rome. Julius Caesar, having started a civil war by crossing the Rubicon, then becoming dictator (a one year term sometimes given to an individual in times of crisis), then dictator for life (unprecedented in Roman history), virtually brought about the end of the Roman Republic and the begining of the Roman Empire.

But todays blog isn't about the fall of the Roman Republic, nor is it about Julius Caesar, it is about history itself...and how it is often repeated.

I would like to quote a passage from a book called Rubicon by the historian Tom Holland. He is discussing the mindset of the Republic after having undergone a long and costly war with its' great rival Carthage. This war almost saw the end of Rome as a world power and there was a determnation that this would never happen again.

"Never again would they tolerate the existence of a power capable of threatening their own survival. Rather than risk that, they felt themselves perfectly justified in launching a pre-emptive strike against any opponent who appeared to be growing too uppity. Such opponents were easy - all too easy - to find."

Remind you of anyone?

For more serious opposition to the Republic, Holland has this to say about the Greeks:

" ..in the early years of of their encounters with Rome, the Republic did not behave at all in the manner of a conventional imperial power. Like lightening from a clear sky, the legions would strike with devastating impact, and then, just as abruptly, be gone. For all the fury of these irregular interventions, they would be punctuated by lengthy periods when Rome appeared to have lost interest in Greek affairs altogether. Even when she did intervene, her incursions across the Adriatic continued to be represented as peace-keeping ventures. These still had as their object not the annexation of territory but the clear establishment of the Republic's prestige, and the slapping down of any overweening power."

This whole attitude to countries that do not fall into line with the policies of, or concede the superiority of, the self-appointed superpower, seems to be present in much of today's foreign policy. It would also appear to be reponsible for much of the animosity, if not hatred, that is felt for the superpower by those countries that find themselves threatened by those policies.

It is plain that, historically, the internal politics of any nation has been of no real interest to the Americans or the British, except in terms of how those politics effect their own interests..such as the continued flow of oil and other valuable resources to the superpower, the sale of products, including armaments manfuctured and sold by the Americans and the British, or the strategic geography of any given nation as it concerns matters of global political or military import.

The whole war in Iraq is based on a potential threat logic: That to strike out at potential threats is somehow justified...even if those threats are later proven to be without creedance, or even if those threats were manufatured by opponents to the regime, internal as well as external, at the receiving end of the military strike.

On a more basic level the logic of the potential threat is one that is often used in cases of atrocities committed during combat. One of the excuses given by war criminals, when explaining their killing of children and infants, is that those children will one day be grown and become enemies. This excuse was used after the massacre of Native Americans at Sand Creek, and it was used by Lt. William Calley after the massacres at Mi Lai. It has also been voiced by countless defendants from the Balkans to the Nuremburg trials of the Nazis. It simply does not wash. It is no excuse...at any level.

Potential threats: Do unto others before they do unto you...or even if you just think they might...maybe..go ahead...it's OK.....George says so.

June 02, 2006

Where Does the Buck Stop?

"Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with innocent blood."
Mahatma Gandhi

A short time ago I wrote about the massacre at Haditha, in Iraq, last November. The events of that massacre, and the subsequent cover-up by the military commanders in the field, are now being investigated by the military. The President, the commander in chief of all US armed forces, has promised that those responsible for the massacre, and the cover-up, will be brought to justice. Good for him. But, apart from the trigger-happy grunts and their chicken-shit commanders, where exactly does responsibility lie?

Harry S. Truman, the man who dropped the first nuclear bombs on the unwary civilian populations of two major cities, had a little wooden sign on his desk in the Oval Office. It said quite simply, and in bold lettering: The Buck Stops Here

As determind as he was to bring the Japanese to their knees, and to send a clear and unmistakable message to the Soviets (and thereby starting an arms race that still accounts for the vast majority of government spending in the USA), he never shirked responsibility for his actions. In one fell swoop he ended one world war and laid the foundations for the next. Then he walked away and assumed his place in history...for better or for worse.

But back to the current situation in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Today the US military has announced that they are also investigating an additional massacre in the city of Ishaqi in March. The filmed evidence seems to contradict the official account of the action filed by the US military. The official report stated that a house came under fire after they had responded to a tip off that an Al Qaieda operative was visiting there. The report stated that the house collapsed during the ensuing firefight, killing four people, including a woman and a child.

But an Iraqi police report states that 11 people, including 5 children and 4 women, were rounded up and shot inside the house. The film, believed by all authorities to be genuine, clearly shows that all the victims died from gunshot wounds.

In Afghanistan there have been angry riots and civil disturbances caused by the perceived arrogance and casual violence of the occupying troops and the small armies of mercenaries that abound there.

The prime ministers of both Iraq and Afghanistan have voiced their anger strongly at the Americans and the British, accusing them of having no respect for their peoples, or a proper regard for the rights, or indeed the lives, of ordinary civilians. They are both demanding that justice be done to those who wantingly disrespect and often murder their people.

George has promised that this would be done. And the military is sending front line troops to "ethics" lessons. There now...all better.

The mere fact that the US has completely disregarded all current treaties concerning the conduct of war, and the treatment of prisoners, should give a clue as to what sort of justice George Bush might provide.

The fact that, in May 2002, the US announced that it would "unsign" the
Rome Treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, might lead one to suspect that the administration was already preparing for the possibility that atrocities and crimes would be committed. Also, it is well known that the Internation Criminal Court is no great respecter of titles: A prime minister, a general, even a president could be called to answer for their actions or, just as likely, for their inactions. The USA, the administration said, was concerned that US nationals might find themselves subjected to politically motivated international justice. Hence no spectre of a war crime tribunal for the Americans...ever.

But, again, where does responsibility lie? It was the attitudes and mindsets of the administration that set the scene for the abuses at Abu Gharib and Guantanimo Bay. It was also the attitudes and mindsets of the administration that released from international justice all potential American war criminals and their supporters. No officers have been charged, let alone convicted, of any of the wrongdoings that occurred on their watch.

It appears the "The Buck" stops well short of Georges' desk...or anyone else with a desk in the current chain of command.

June 01, 2006

Politics: A New Cold War?


Last month saw vice-president Dick Cheney at the Vilnius conference, attended by the leaders of the Baltic and Black Sea regions. He chose this conference to castigate the Russian government for abandoning the democratic reforms gained by the Russian people since the fall of communism. He said, "from religion and the news media to advocacy groups and political parties, the government has unfairly and improperly restricted the rights of the people."

He also added that some of Russian governments' actions, "have been counterproductive and could begin to affect relations with other countries"

These are harsh words indeed coming from one of the main architects of the erosion of civil liberties in his own country, and it hardly goes without saying that his last quote could equally be applied to American foreign policy since his and Dubyas' administration came to power in an election that reeked of criminal tampering and fraud.



This is a map, from 1946, that was used to illustrate one of the starting points of the Cold War. After WWII, the allied powers were busy dividing the world or, to more precise, the energy resources of the Third World. The issue here was that Soviet Union had placed troops in northern Iran in order to secure the oil fields in that region. President Truman and the British government ordered the Russians to pull out...and the Cold War was under way.

Today it is the Russians and the Chinese that are supporting the Iranians in their pursuit of nuclear energy. They have promised to veto any resolution made by the UN, concerning this crisis, that implies military intervention or the use of force. The USA, as it has already proven, is quite willing to use military force to further its' own interests anywhere in the world, with or without UN backing or approval.

Today the Russians have promised to build arms and munitions factories in Venezuela. This comes just weeks after the USA imposed a ban on the sale of weapons to that country. Venezuela is a country with vast oil resources and it seems determined to militarize itself in order to defend itself from US military intervention.

The Venezuelan government has also cemented ties with Cuba, Iran, and other countries that find themselves on the list of "unfriendly governments" targeted by the Hawks in the US administration.

Armaments and resources are at the heart of the present, and future, conflicts. The emerging industrial giants, China and Russia, find themselves in a battle with their older counterparts to control, or influence, the ever-decreasing supplies of oil.

It would seem that the Cold War is once again with us. The fight for influence and resources goes on..and on.