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May 27, 2009
Links May 27 09
  • The Taliban silently take over north Afghanistan – 'If We Now Kill Schoolgirls, You Shouldn't Be Surprised'Spiegel)
  • Much too late – US probes divisions within Taliban – (Boston Globe)
  • McChrystal's slaughter campaign plans – A New Kind of War Part 1 – (SST)
  • Background on Swat Valley – How Green Was My Valley – (FPJ)
  • Backlash from the anti-Taliban campaign – Blast shakes Lahore police building – (AlJazeera)
  • SOFA? What SOFA? – Army chief: U.S. troops could be in Iraq for 10 years – LAT
  • Dennis Ross again making trouble – U.S. envoy Ross: Obama's plan won't bring Mideast peace – (Haaretz)
  • Not dangerous at all – Exploring the Reach and Limitations of Iranian Power in the Middle East – (Rand)
  • Provides a peaceful solution – Former diplomat: Iran won’t stop nuclear work – (LAT)
  • Still heating up – N Korea threatens South over ship searches – (FT)
  • USAID meddling in South America – More than $97 million from USAID to separatist projects in Bolivia – (Bolivia Risisng)
  • The Greatest Swindle Ever Sold – Six Ways the Financial Bailout Scams Taxpayers – (TomDispatch)
  • Dr. Doom – U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says – (Bloomberg)
  • A funny scam – Reincarnation Bank – (Reincarnation Bank)

Please add your links, views and news in the comments.

Posted by b on May 27, 2009 at 05:40 UTC | Permalink
Comments

In your research you will find that the Persians, Alexander the Great, Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and more recently the British Empire and the Russians have all swept through Afghanistan. For some, this paints a picture of the indomitable Afghan. I tend to disagree, as the Afghans have indeed been conquered on numerous occasions. However, Afghanistan has never been the prize, more like a necessary bridge from where the conqueror was to where he wished to be. What the Afghans are, however, is survivors. The ominous name “graveyard of empires” is a misnomer. None of the great ancient empires were undone in Afghanistan, but Afghanistan was instead a way to measure the waxing and waning of these empires. They all swept through on their way to expansion, and then had to retract through Afghanistan again on their way back whence they came, leaving their genetic mark on the land. The Afghans, however, have survived. Afghans are not indomitable; they are consummate survivors, amazing in their flexibility and often playing foreigners off of each other and their domestic competitors.
More recently, the British and Russians have found great difficulty in Afghanistan, mostly through their own idiotic mistakes. These experiences in particular are held up as some sort of omen as to the fortunes of the NATO mission in Afghanistan. I caution you not to give much credence to such examples, for there are significant differences. No one through history has gone to Afghanistan for the sake of Afghanistan. What we are doing in Afghanistan is for their sake, but do not become confused; it is not because we are so selfless. It is because by doing the right thing in Afghanistan, we make ourselves safer. Do not buy in to any thoughts of whether or not they deserve our assistance. The question is in itself diversionary. We chose this mission eight years ago because it is our best interests. The Afghans need a lot of help. Theirs is a society that has been developmentally disabled by thirty years of warfare. They have forgotten how to govern even as well as they were ever governed.

From ALL – Afghan Lessons Learned.

Posted by: Jeremiah | May 27 2009 7:17 utc | 1

Haaretz: The never-ending evacuation

Maoz Esther is an extremely flexible outpost. In effect, it’s part of the unwritten agreement between the settlers and government. Every time the Americans apply pressure, the police get orders, start moving their equipment, and hundreds of policemen evacuate the tiny outpost. Their lives at risk, they dismantle four tin huts, two tents and one wooden building containing toilets and showers.
The next morning, the settlers return to the site, rebuild the tin huts and put the tents back up. The local council restores their electricity and water supply and removes their garbage (even though it’s an illegal outpost).
And the settlers wait quietly until the next evacuation. This has happened four times at Maoz Esther, so no one really gets excited. Each side plays its part in the act, aiming to throw dirt in the Americans’ eyes and divert their attention from the construction taking place all over the West Bank.

Posted by: Colin | May 27 2009 8:22 utc | 2

#1,
The pinnacle of stupidity. From the tallest beacon of the shining city of the absurd. Wisdom is banality.

Posted by: anna missed | May 27 2009 9:57 utc | 3

US bonds sale faces market resistance

Posted by: a | May 27 2009 10:02 utc | 4

DO as we say, or else.
Today: Netanyahu says he’s ready to give up the outposts in the West Bank in change of US backing about Iran.
Mexico’s Shock Doctrine.

Posted by: andrew | May 27 2009 10:22 utc | 5

Oh, anna….wait till you get a load of the actual paper. (PDF.)

Posted by: Jeremiah | May 27 2009 10:40 utc | 6

USAID meddling in South America – More than $97 million from USAID to separatist projects in Bolivia – (Bolivia Risisng)

But Helena Cobban, Laurie Creasy, and the folks oveer at the American Friends Service Committee are in favor of INCREASING USAID!
From one of their breathless emails (1/5/09) after the Obamination was elected:

Dear xxxx,
We’re about to hand off the Roadmap to the Transition Team!
Last fall, with AFSC leadership, dozens of organizations got together and agreed on five principles to serve as a guide for creating a better world for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren. We called it our Roadmap for Peace. Thousands of people have endorsed the principles.
We’ve circulated the document on Capitol Hill, and we promised we’d take it to President-elect Obama’s Transition Team — and that’s exactly what will happen this week. We’ll stop collecting signatures online Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern time.
It’s exciting to see our work bear fruit and to think about the possibilities of putting our plans into action.
If you haven’t endorsed Roadmap already, please do so today so we can make a big impact. If you’ve already endorsed it, please urge 17 friends to sign on, too.
Write your reps!
More and more, the military plays a large role in U.S. foreign policy. The Department of Defense has taken over activities performed by civilian agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Our new administration and Congress should return the power and resources for development and conflict related activities to civilian agencies. The current imbalance is so high that one observer recently estimated permanent Department of Defense employees outnumbered those of USAID by 750 to 1.
This week, in our second letter based on the Roadmap principles, we’re asking you to write your senators and your representative a personal e-mail asking them to support and fund civilian-led and performed development, conflict prevention, and crisis response, and to reverse the militarization of civilian agencies and foreign assistance.
Some talking points:
* encourage your representatives to honor the FY 2009 budget request to increase the size of the State Department’s diplomatic corps by 1,100 and USAID’s staff by 300.
* point out that the Pentagon controls an ever-increasing share of U.S. Official Development Assistance and has expanded the training and equipping of foreign military forces.
* urge a “whole of government” approach that reinforces civilian control of development assistance and sets development goals that focus on civilian affairs, rather than military ones.
Remember, research shows a personalized e-mail is a good way to get your representative’s attention. Keep your e-mail short — one page is best — use your personal experiences, and urge your senator or congressperson to use our Roadmap for Peace as a starting point.
Your support and actions have helped us achieve goals in the past. Now let’s reach for the stars.
Peace,
Laurie Creasy,
American Friends Service Committee

Nothing like a liberal alternative to destabilizing other countries and building the Empire!
What’s up with that?

Posted by: Scorpion Warrior | May 27 2009 11:17 utc | 7

A funny scam – Reincarnation Bank – (Reincarnation Bank)

Sheesh… I’m curious B, where’d you come across this one? Any idea who’s behind it?
For those who didn’t follow link, this from their “home” page into:

Scriptures throughout the ages predict man’s reincarnation and rebirth. During the transition period to your next life, 2i Limited is offering safe keeping for any asset you wish to deposit.
There are people who say they can remember their past lives and use that knowledge to help them with their current existence. Some people say they remember without any effort on their part as they simply see previous times. If you leave nothing purposely behind when you die, then what is there here for you when you return?
Begin by believing and just do it. The great end of life is not just knowledge but action so act now and save for your reincarnation.

Wouldn’t be surprised at all if these guys are raking in deposits from the illiterate, paranoid and hopeless. Did a WHOIS, not much info and I don’t have time this morning to ferret it out.
Google gave me this link, from Newsvine… a discussion post w/some entertaining comments.

Posted by: jdmckay | May 27 2009 11:37 utc | 8

@jdmackay – I don’t remember where I picked that up.
But I found it really funny. You can “deposit” money at that site but there is no way to “withdraw” money. I also wonder what identification I will have to show when I reincarnate as a bacteria and want my deposited money back.
But maybe some idiot will really give them a deposit. As the site costs next to nothing, the owners have no risk but a chance to get some income.
The company behind that sits in Gibraltar and has some other scam sites where it sells Chinese penny worth stuff for double dollar money.

Posted by: b | May 27 2009 12:54 utc | 9

Link to the recent Ryan Report on systematic abuse of Irish children by the religious orders.

Posted by: Cloned Poster | May 27 2009 13:24 utc | 10

I’m going to Gibraltar to collect my leavings. I’m here to collect, now about that collateral

Posted by: scott | May 27 2009 13:30 utc | 11

Roger Cohen: Obama in Netanyahu’s Web

Posted by: Anthony | May 27 2009 14:09 utc | 12

b/scott @ 9 & 11:
Reminds me… I lived in Oakland Ca. from ’91-’05. Around ’94, there was an ad that showed up in local paper (Oakland Trib):

Last chance to send your $ to PO BOX (XXX)

It ran for some 3 weeks. Local DA decided it was a scam, so he prosecuted. Turned out scammers recieved somewhere around $90k over that period. It went to trial, resulted in aquittal as scammers broke no laws, rather just investing in cost of ad while betting on stupidity of paper’s readership.
Said stupidity, as it turned out, was a good return on investment.
…
FWIW, aside from whatever other folk’s reaction to this stuff is, I see more there. That “more” is… while for some years here and many other places on web have been raised alerts to this & that injustice, lies from world powers, banking/investment/CDS (etc) scams that have brought world economies to their knees, W/neo-cons/Likudnik’s vapid “sale” of Iraq, Lebanon levelling (etc.) as some kind of moral imperative, justified by some greater good, based on nothing but lies, wrapped in torture, and run for great profit by political insiders (etc.)…
The one thing underlying it all, more pertinent IMO than any particular incident or event, is the cultural black hole of stupidy and ignorance by which so many can be sold anything, to the detriment of everyone, bankrupting millions… on and on it goes.
These conditions, it seems to me, have grown exponentially worse through Bush years… I’d say they institutionalized them. That BO has demonstrated no fundamental principal in anything (AFAIC) only allows all this to perpetuate.
So we go on, identifying latest political/econ/monetary/legal (etc) absurdities, and those who keep abreast (at least I) manage to negotiate around worst of disasters by keeping informed and being smart. But as far as I can see, there is no momentum, critical mass or anything else on the horizon to address in intelligent way what needs to be done:
* purposefully educating publics as opposed to indoctrinating ’em w/bullshit
* determining value of above… that smart people empowered with truthful knowledge can band together and do things the world needs, as opposed to allow world’s (at least USA anyway’s) total savings/investment continue to be exploited in support of building a new DOW bubble before the anatomy of last one (which still persists) is honestly disclosed.
I dun’o… generally I keep a very good attitude and enjoy life greatly. But I’m not all that encouraged of mankind’s future here on Blue Planet, given huge critical mass building in population, diminishing resources (energy/water/useful minerals/metals etc.) available to increasingly larger populations, and perhaps most poignantly IMO, the seeming utter inability of nations (especially USA) to not only acknowledge these realities, but to bring to bare the full body of knowledge, technology etc. in the service of solving all these problems and intelligently laying frameworks for a viable future.
Just my $0.02 USD (and dropping fast).

Posted by: jdmckay | May 27 2009 14:18 utc | 13

Jeremiah, I agree with your message but totally disagree that the U.S. is the right source to execute a policy of benign involvement.
Afghanistan was part of Persia for 2 periods, one encompassing 200 years and the other almost 400 years, during which it was a fountain of learning, innovation, poetry and progress, so you’re correct in warning people not to assume that it is everyone’s graveyard.
The problem today is that the U.S.A. offered its hand in friendship against the Soviets in the Eighties and then hung the brave Afghans out to dry. Never learning from its mistakes, the U.S.A. then again used Iran to persuade Afghanistan to side with the untrustworthy Americans in late 2001, defeated the Taleban and then — Guess what? — AGAIN hung them out to dry and dashed off to Iraq.
The truth is that Afghans hate the U.S.A. and love Iran (We gave refuge to 2.5 million of them for 20 years and paid all their expenses and gave them both security and funds to send home), so the sooner the U.S.A. comes to its senses and makes peace with Iran the quicker Iran (which is actively rebuilding Afghanistan’s infrastructure while the U.S.A. merely talks about it) can accelerate its efforts to unite these people, replace opium with cereals and gradually bring them into the 21st century.
As far as Afghans are concerned, the U.S. sucks. The U.S. should formally hand the project to Iran, provide Iran with a fraction of the funds it would consequently save on its military budget, and let Iran run the show. At least Iranians and Afghans have a common language.

Posted by: Parviz | May 27 2009 14:20 utc | 14

Hi Parviz. To be clear, I don’t have a “message” – I was posting those links because I thought they would be of interest here. I do *not* endorse the contents, and more or less share your current view on the subject.

Posted by: Jeremiah | May 27 2009 14:36 utc | 15

Anthony (#12), thanks for this. It didn’t appear on the front page of the NYT online edition. It is a brilliant condemnation of Obama whose inexperience and/or stupidity and/or complicity (take your pick) vis-a-vis Israel is starkly exposed.
It’s interesting how Roger Cohen, formerly a Neocon-Zionist Hawk, and himself a Jew, has suddenly done a 180-degree about-face.

Posted by: Parviz | May 27 2009 14:36 utc | 16

thanks for the links b but i didn’t read a single one
No doubt they were well chosen but the sameness and predictability of the news numbs the mind. All one feels is not more of this please .. like an editor who has to read bad scripts endlessly, similar plot, same hackneyed characters, dumb sub-text, love wins out, tripe the lot of it.
What can this mean? Well, who knows, but perhaps some of several things. First, the media is to blame, as the news is massaged, cherry picked, distorted, in short follows a conventional script. If a certain pov or message was ok in the past, they can continue, and slather it on. This surely makes for the suppression of novelty, and suppression tout court. They actually do create an alternative reality for us to adhere to. They run the show, they pick the tale, and for many years now they haven’t dared to stray or innovate. (I was thinking of 9/11 again perhaps more on that later.)
Second, the geo-political world is in a stasis. Despite a lot of turbulence and ‘new’ events such as the BigBail (-out of the banks), situations are jammed, nothing can change, despite Mr. Hopiness. The occupation of Iraq will last forever, the same old enemies are hanging around doing nothing spectacular, Russia remains a pariah, Europe a poodle, Africa continues its trend to absolute poverty, I needn’t go on. This means either that opposing forces are in play and deadlocked, or that everyone is afraid of moving in any direction.
I favor the latter, because of resource depletion. Once taking over other’s resources comes to cost too much a peculiar situation develops. (see jdmckay at 13.)

Posted by: Tangerine | May 27 2009 15:08 utc | 17

No doubt they were well chosen but the sameness and predictability of the news numbs the mind.

Don’t you think it might be rather, Tangerine, that real situations change slower than our present-day instantaneous media? Our access to information is too fast for the change in situations, so all the same stories get repeated.
I’m not surprised to hear, for example, that a US general is still mumbling on about permanent bases in Iraq. His fossilised brain will take decades to understand that the situation does not conform precisely to a US military man’s wet-dream. I should think there are hundreds of four-star generals like that. They are not going to change their views to correspond with the news cycle.
(I am not commenting here on what the actual situation in Iraq might be)

Posted by: alex_no | May 27 2009 15:33 utc | 18

From the Reincarnation Bank website:

Terms and conditions.

1. No verbal or special arrangements shall be made to the live client or the deceased estate other than those embodied in this agreement.
2. The client or the client’s estate indemnifies 2i Limited, its directors or its agents against any claims arising in consequence of any or all deposits and investments in pursuance of this agreement.
3. No claim can be made prior to the age of majority, majority age being an age after the date of the clients demise. All claims may be subject to verification through regression.

In other words, “Give us your stuff and go away. We’ll be the sole judge of any clams of reincarnation. In the meantime, have a look at the plans for our new villa on Majorca…”

Posted by: Obelix | May 27 2009 16:05 utc | 19

Thanks for that info., Scorpion. What’s up, indeed.

Posted by: Obamageddon | May 27 2009 17:17 utc | 20

U.S. Inflation to Approach Zimbabwe Level, Faber Says
Possibly, but I’m not buying. Bonddad explains why:

But just because the Federal Reserve is printing money does not mean we are spending it. The rate at which consumers spend their money is called velocity, which is “A term used to describe the rate at which money is exchanged from one transaction to another.” (…) as velocity drops we are more likely to have a decrease in overall CPI — which is demonstrated by the current chart.

Posted by: D. Mathews | May 27 2009 20:02 utc | 21

…McChrystal’s slaughter campaign plans – A New Kind of War Part 1…
By putting McChrystal in charge of Afghanistan, Obama is letting the world know that he’s just as pro-war, just as pro-torture, as Bush was. But McChrystal’s tactics didn’t work in Iraq, so I’m not sure why Obama thinks that his tactics will work in Afghanistan. Then again, the US has made it loud and clear that it doesn’t care about winning wars, it only cares about perpetuating them. This may explain why Obama put a loser like MCChrystal in charge of Afghanistan.

Posted by: Cynthia | May 27 2009 20:13 utc | 22

By your standards McCrystal’s tactics didn’t work. Perhaps by other’s standards, his tactics were a resounding success, and that’s why he was chosen for this assignment.

Posted by: Obamageddon | May 27 2009 20:55 utc | 23

#2, Colin.
It’s obvious that the Israeli government could end this illegal settlement practice quickly by imposing criminal penalties (such as 5 years in prison. It’ll never happen, of course, because the Israelis aren’t really serious about this.
Consider, for a moment, what would happen if the the tables were turned and the Palestinians decided to erect settlements on Israeli land. They’d be fortunate to get away with their lives.

Posted by: Obelix | May 27 2009 21:08 utc | 24

O’geddon,
If McChrystal’s tactics failed to make the surge in Iraq a success, his tactics can’t be all that successful.

Posted by: Cynthia | May 27 2009 21:36 utc | 25

Maybe the surge wasn’t meant to be successful at that juncture, Cynthia. If he’s the failure he’s claimed to be, why the hell would he be reassigned to Afghanistan? I don’t buy the blundering incompetence theory for such a decision. There’s much more to it than that.

Posted by: Obamageddon | May 27 2009 22:10 utc | 26

A couple of links from me:
Armageddon Now?

Pens and Swords: How the American Mainstream Media Report the Israel-Palestinian Conflict
Also this may be interesting to follow:
Palestine: new interactive website for local media sponsored by BBC

Posted by: ptw | May 27 2009 22:13 utc | 27

Daniel Luban’s new excellent piece: More on Amalek

Posted by: Anthony | May 27 2009 23:37 utc | 28

Hi to all here. My apologies for the long absence. I hope everyone has been doing reasonably well.
From Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV, about the Spiegel smear piece:
Der Spiegel Report Published on Syriatruth.Net 6 Months Ago

The report published by the German magazine Der Spiegel days ago concerning an alleged “involvement” of Hezbollah in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was not a scoop since the Syriatruth.net electronic site published the same information six months ago.
This site, run by the Syrian opposition figure who lives in France, Nizar Nayyouf, has attributed its information to a high-ranking judicial source in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) as Der Spiegel has exactly done.
(snip)

Posted by: Alamet | May 28 2009 0:43 utc | 29

JdMcKay #13 – I share your discouragement even while still personally reveling in each day. Such a strange disconnect and dissonance.
I’ve sometimes wondered if, after “the fall” in whatever exact form it takes, it might be a good idea to establish two levels of citizenship in the USA (if the USA remains after the fall).
Basic citizenship the same as now – if you’re born here you’re in, and if you get over certain hurdles and desire to take citizenship, you can do so.
But for “active citizen” status and perks (haven’t thought of a good name for this category), you have to consciously show knowledge of and interest in civic society, demonstrate understanding of our foundational documents and events, their significance and transformation over time, and invest time and effort in constructive ongoing activity that strengthens or sustains civilian-led civic society. Not sure what appropriate perks might be besides the inherent satisfactions of actively sustaining civil society and its liberties – perhaps tax credits or other favorable tax treatment.
Of course, we wouldn’t want to move further toward a “class-based” society like the one we broke away from, and I can just imagine the protestations this idea would receive.
Yet I’m struck virtually every day by the apathy, the ignorance, the lack of civic or communal consciousness, the surrender by the citizen masses to the superficial glamor of what can be purchased, consumed, and manipulated for the pleasure or benefit of individuals to the exclusion of anything greater or better.

Posted by: Maxcrat | May 28 2009 2:24 utc | 30

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