Links June 7 09
- Iraq's New Death Squad The Nation - The U.S. trained/commanded 'dirty brigade'.
- A High-Priced Media Campaign That Iraqis Aren't Buying WaPo - Are Iraqis smarter than Americans?
- Defiant settlers build new outpost near Migron containing 'Obama Hut' JPost
- The Two Surprises in the Obama Speech William Pfaff
- Lahore-style strike on Islamabad Dawn - The war enters the capitol of Pakistan
- U.S. Lawyers Agreed on the Legality of Brutal Tactic NYT - Emptywheel says the story stinks.
- We Had Our Perestroika. It's High Time for Yours. Mikhail Gorbachev/WaPo - Good one
Please add your links, views and news in the comments.
Posted by b on June 7, 2009 at 6:58 UTC | Permalink
Imho Pfaff is kidding himself. According to his reading of Obama’s speech the two surprises the US president came up with in his Cairo speech are
a, he called for Israel to stop expanding settlements in occupied territories.
Well knock me over, Obama actually dared to mention a freeze to any further settlements. Not a word about the apartheid wall, the theft of Palestinian resources or calling for the removal of existing illegal settlements. If asking the Israelis to stop expanding illegal outposts is the best Obama can muster in his attempt to appear even handed, then good night Irene.
b, he announced the US doesn’t want to have permanent bases in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Just like with any politician’s speech, to get an idea of where they are coming from and what they are aiming at, it is imperative to read between the lines. This is even more important with Obama's flowery feel good speeches. The words he says are equally as telling as the ones he chooses to omit, you’d think Pfaff would be aware of this.
Obama did for instance not mention an exit strategy for Afghanistan – and gave instead a lukewarm excuse for the war to continue till St. Never’s Day.
When will that moment of “confidence that there are no more violent extremists left in Afghanistan” arrive? Sounds pretty permanent to me.
Now, make no mistake: We do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We see no military -- we seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and now Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can. But that is not yet the case.
At first glimpse it seems is hasn’t occurred to Mr. Obama that as long as US troops kill people by the thousands in Afghanistan there will be Afghanis trying to kill US Americans. But on second thought, a man of Obama’s intelligence would surely not fail to see the ‘cat chasing its tail’ scenario he outlined, and it therefore follows that his speech was designed to fool people like Pfaff who reckon the sun emanates from BH’s rectum.
Posted by: Juan Moment | Jun 7 2009 8:22 utc | 2
to be fair Obama cannot announce withdrawal before he has got an exit strategy and he has not got one.
what the US is supporting in Pakistan does not sound like an exit strategy at all.
Posted by: outsider | Jun 7 2009 8:53 utc | 3
Been catching up on the Jim/James Comey story. I and others here were heavy on it at the time but so much has transpired since then I've lost my place.
I'll just go on and say it, although I have absolutely nothing to back it up, But I don't trust Empty wheel, anymore than I trust the NYT's. I feel the same as others have here about Fitzgerald.
Marcy Wheeler writes intriguingly, and provocatively, but always off a degree for me. Again, with nothing to go on but my intuition, it reminds me of the back channel contingency; in short, the 'blame it all on Near-dead pump-head Cheney, and let Jr. off the hook' meme. Poor boy King, just a victim of mean Ol' life long beltway insiders.
I would not be surprised, when all is said and done, if we come to find out that Poppy (HWB) has spent a small fortune of his blood money for a sympathy P.R. project merely to shield dim-son, from his and Jr's murderous bank account and consequences.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 7 2009 10:11 utc | 4
some clear thinking in response to Obama's speach:
http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&F12E11F2E98B9163C22575CD003DEFE9
Posted by: outsider | Jun 7 2009 11:08 utc | 5
ultra orthodox = fundamental muslins
ISRAELI police fired water cannons at hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem who threw stones in protest against the opening of a public parking lot they see as a violation of religious law.
Posted by: Cloned Poster | Jun 7 2009 12:19 utc | 6
uncle scam, far more than the bush family wish to the the American Empire endure. Why would you think HWB would need to redeem his boy? There are so many profiteers for empire, they have no shortage of access to media, they run and populate the "thinktanks."
What we are seeing is a careful disassociation from the ugly sides of empire, but then (like the savvy Jew who will whisper to you the ugly Machiavellian secrets of life) a case will be made to justify the ugly aspects of Empire.
The liberals want to invade to protect civil rights, the conservatives want to steal natural resources. Hell, they don't know anything but that their benefactors want in these markets.
Posted by: scott | Jun 7 2009 14:02 utc | 7
anna missed@ 1
I watched that vid... thought of posting it myself but then I got to thinking – and I tried imagining what any drunk bunch of college students might say if there were video cameras present. Lets just say my feelings are mixed on the piece.
While on one hand it does show some awful redneckedness, and one figures that the apples don't fall far from the trees, so it isn't hard to deduce these youngster's families probably think along similar lines, but then again we don't know.
I know in those crazy years when I was still suffering from wet dreams, I'd have said about anything when I was drunk... and probably did. Thank g_d there weren't cellphone cameras back then!
It's a shame that there are still so many fucking humans that think their personal collection of DNA makes them somehow more special than other collections of human DNA. Until all humans recognize themselves as being equal, there will continue to be humans that act like the shits in the video.
Unfortunately, I know it would be pretty easy to make a video showing a small part of any racial group as a bunch backwoods-idiot-raciest-fucks, but hopefully most pragmatic humans grow beyond these stupid ideas as they age.
I sure hope this isn't the way most Jews feels 'cause if they do than they better check themselves before they wet themselves as Ice Cube says. It seems such a shame that we have to waste our minds hating rather than figuring-out a smooth way to get along.
We all need food water and air... maybe if the world got back to worrying about these common human needs, we wouldn't need to kill each other and hate each other quite as much as we do.
Once we learned how to disagree without needing to kill, then we could start arguing the merits of the christian myth vs the muslim myth vs the jewish myth.
Yeah, and when this happens, hell will known as a hot spot to get frozen margaritas!
Posted by: DavidS | Jun 7 2009 14:05 utc | 8
In the West, the breakup of the Soviet Union was viewed as a total victory that proved that the West did not need to change. Western leaders were convinced that they were at the helm of the right system and of a well-functioning, almost perfect economic model. Scholars opined that history had ended. The "Washington Consensus," the dogma of free markets, deregulation and balanced budgets at any cost, was force-fed to the rest of the world.
Micha summed it up. There is such a thing as too much of a good thing, even too much capitalism. We have just bucked up against it limits and are retreating. Conservatives are quick to brandind it "socialism", but it is just returning to a more sensible economic model
Posted by: ralphieboy | Jun 7 2009 14:35 utc | 9
Request:
Where are early Lebanon election results/latest polling/commentary available?
Posted by: Arnold Evans | Jun 7 2009 14:53 utc | 10
The first time I read Pfaff -- twenty or so years ago -- I thought he was well informed and cool, but that only meant he knew more about European politics than the average Time mag reporter. Clearly Pfaff is as centrist and pro-empire as they come, and so his praise of Obama's Cairo speech is unremarkable.
"Iraq's New Death Squad" is a scary story indeed. It means we COULD actually depart Iraq some day, leaving behind a brutal Iraqi special forces group, funded and trained by us. A US general quoted in the story says "this could be a model for (control of insurgencies) worldwide."
Posted by: senecal | Jun 7 2009 15:28 utc | 11
US presidents like to declare national emergencies. One, or even two, national emergencies are useful to justify domestic "enhanced surveillance" and "enhanced inspections. Heck, four or five "national emergencies" would be even better.
The US currently is under nineteen national emergencies. They were initiated under George Bush, and are being dutifully continued under Mr. Change -- Barack Obama. Under US law, a law which was intended to limit such fololishness, a national emergency must be renewed annually before its anniversary. That has been faithfully done by President Obama in every case, with six of the 19 being renewed to date. Here they are:
Cote d'Ivoire – "Because the situation in or in relation to Côte d'Ivoire continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on February 7, 2006, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond February 7, 2009."
renewed February 4, 2009 BO
Zimbabwe – "Because the actions and policies of these persons continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on March 6, 2003, and the measures adopted on that date, on November 22, 2005, and on July 25, 2008, to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond March 6, 2009."
renewed March 3, 2009 BO
Iran – " The actions and policies of the Government of Iran are contrary to the interests of the United States in the region and pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. "
renewed March 11, 2009 BO
Syria – "The actions of the Government of Syria in supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq pose a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States."
renewed May 7, 2009 BO
Burma – "Because the actions and policies of the Government of Burma continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on May 20, 1997, and the measures adopted on that date, July 28, 2003, October 18, 2007, and April 30, 2008, to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond May 20, 2009."
renewed May 14, 2009 BO
Iraq -- "Because the obstacles to the orderly reconstruction of Iraq, the restoration and maintenance of peace and security in the country, and the development of political, administrative, and economic institutions in Iraq continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States..."
renewed May 19, 2009 BO
That leaves 13 other US "national emergemcies" also in effect, no doubt to be renewed by Obama. In chronological order of expiration they are with respect to: Belarus, Russian Federation, Western Balkans, North Korea, The former Liberian regime of Charles Taylor, Lebanon, Terrorism, Persons who commit threaten to commit or support terrorism, Sudan, Weapons of mass destruction, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Middle East Terrorists and Cuba.
(This comment wouldn't post with links. Please go to http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php and enter month & year for Obama's renewals.)
by the way - nobody seemed surprised that Osama bin Laden should be still alive and talking ????
Posted by: outsider | Jun 7 2009 15:54 utc | 13
I'm not surprised that a purported OBL is alive and talking. Without his fabricated presence the justification for continued war falls flat. I would be surprised if there weren't such a presence, despite the observations of Presidents Karzai (2002), Zardari (2009), and former president Musharraf (2002) that bin Laden is probably dead. A guy with terminal kidney disease, requiring dialysis every three days surviving in a cave? Come on.
@Arnold Evans @10 - my go-to site for Lebanon-news is Naharnet
don bacon, you can add Benazir Bhutto to the mix. She is on youtube with it.
Posted by: outsider | Jun 7 2009 16:23 utc | 16
In committing us to war without end, our government is giving the so-called "violent extremists" every opportunity to kill Americans with ease.
The Long War is not about terror.
It is about who can kill whom.
Posted by: crasmane | Jun 7 2009 16:27 utc | 17
"The methods themselves were legal."
This is equivocation, nothing more.
The methods were criminal.
Lawyers at the Justice Department allowed themselves to be manipulated.
If the methods themselves were legal, why destroy videotapes?
Why censor them?
Why hide anything if it's all legal?
Posted by: crasmane | Jun 7 2009 16:30 utc | 18
Don Bacon: great comment! "State of emergency" is such a slick concept. . emergency for whom, about what? Approaching hurricane would be a state of emergency, a flood of refugees or starving Mexican farmers might be. . but Cote d'Ivoir? The sale of Opel to Fiat would be "of concern" to Volkswagen, but not a state of emergency. That's about the level most US geo-politics should be on.
Posted by: senecal | Jun 7 2009 18:37 utc | 19
don bacon @12 - i saw recently (last week?) where obama issued the renewal for the drc
Posted by: b real | Jun 7 2009 18:46 utc | 20
hi everybody, my email access here is really sketchy and i promise to write more when i get back next week. there is too much to tell i would not know where to begin. the palestinian people are so unbelievably amazing and vibrant and cool, smart just everything. plus massively gorgeous and generous. it never really occurred to me when i went on this trip i would be interacting to such an intimate degree w/people. everything is so real. the group i am traveling with has become close too. here is a link to 'the letter' which was written over the course of a few hrs around a table in the hotel cafeteria/conference area with a cast of characters i am now familiar with. life. anyway..here is the letter. there is a very funny story about this letter but i will tell you this part later.. sorry but i am being a little careful til i'm out of the region.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/04
Posted by: annie | Jun 7 2009 19:21 utc | 21
b real @ 20,
I don't see any DRC "national emergency" renewal this month or last.
from the files: National emergency regarding Democratic Republic of the Congo – "blocking the property of certain persons contributing to the conflict in that country", initiated October 27, 2006, last renewed November 19, 2008.
Unfortunately, it seems that the new US administration has broken all hyperlinks to documents of the past administration.
What the new Jim Comey torture emails actually reveal
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/06/07/torture_memos/
Posted by: roscoe | Jun 7 2009 20:10 utc | 23
from Sina, China (extracts):
On May 31, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner visited China as scheduled. Many people have speculated that the purpose of the visit is not only to placate China, but to persuade China to continue to buy up American government debt.
On the surface, Geithner did not respond directly to China’s demands. At most he harped on the compromise that “a strong dollar is in the U.S. interest,” which expresses a verbal promise that “as soon as recovery is firmly established, tax incentives we put in place…will have to expire.” According to media’s interpretation of goodwill, this is tantamount to indirectly providing a so-called “guarantee,” apparently satisfying China’s long-standing desire that the US make this sort of promise.
According to the Obama administration economic stimulus plan, the 2009 financial deficit is estimated to exceed 1.84 trillion dollars; in the next 10 years the deficit will surpass 7.1 trillion dollars. This being the case, beating around the bush with “guarantees” is basically not credible. Why should we again let Geithner tell us falsehoods?
http://watchingamerica.com/News/28332/the-real-point-of-geithner%E2%80%99s-visit/
Thanks roscoe...
looks to me like the writers, Scott Shane and David Johnston worship at the same Aspen tree club as Judy Judas Miller and her posse.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 7 2009 21:35 utc | 25
A quick google search seems to show, our intrepid "investigative journalist" above, David Johnston, is buddies with anti-tax fanatic Grover Norquist. I don't have the time nor energy to suss this out, but if true, it continues to show the incestuous nature of the fifth estate and Washington.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 7 2009 21:53 utc | 26
Military-Backed Public Schools On the Rise In The U.S.
Major problems found in war spending
Source: Associated PressIn its first report to Congress, the Wartime Contracting Commission presents a bleak assessment of how tens of billions of dollars have been spent since 2001. The 111-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, documents poor management, weak oversight, and a failure to learn from past mistakes as recurring themes in wartime contracting.
The report is scheduled to be made public Wednesday at a hearing held by the House Oversight and Government Reform's national security subcommittee.
U.S. reliance on contractors has grown to "unprecedented proportions," says the bipartisan commission, established by Congress last year. More than 240,000 private sector employees are supporting military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thousands more work for the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development.
But the government has no central data base of who all these contractors are, what services they provide, and how much they're paid. The Pentagon has failed to provide enough trained staff to watch over them, creating conditions for waste and corruption, the commission says.
no way!...lol
Just as I posted yesterday on the five U.S. contractors in the death of another U.S. contractor, one, Jim Kitterman, I was alerted to a United States service personnel, The U.S. Army’s top military ethicist, killed in Iraq, Col. Ted Westhusing linked to... wait for it.. HWB and The Carlyle Group.
They kill good soldiers like Col. Ted Westhusing for profit...
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 7 2009 23:30 utc | 27
Obama meets the most neoconservative European leader and suddently wants"tough diplomacy" towards Iran. I'm beginning to doubt he has a his own position about Iran.
Posted by: andrew | Jun 7 2009 23:59 utc | 28
Obama has said this before. "We need to ratchet up tough but direct diplomacy with Iran," he said in an interview on NBC program "Meet the Press" Dec. 7, 2008. Obama said he would make clear to Tehran that the nuclear program was "unacceptable," along with its support of militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, and its "threats against Israel."
@don bacon - i can't find it either & didn't make a copy of it at the time so maybe the site i read it at posted the nov 2008 renewal, which refers to GWB in the third person. i'll keep an eye out for what i read as i make my rounds though - it certainly gave me the impression that it was a new renewal.
i do see where the executive order was enhanced by the dept of treasury on may 28 to politically designate five more individuals as worth having their property blocked by the united states. and this article in last week's east african standard focuses on the u.s. efforts to escalate the conflict so they can get that oil w/o any serious armed interference
US Senate wants Obama to crush LRA for good
Republicans as well as Democrats are pressing President Barack Obama to help the Ugandan military destroy the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).Legislation introduced last week in the US Senate would require the Obama administration to move towards “eliminating the threat posed by the Lord’s Resistance Army.”
The proposal calls for military and other forms of US support for multilateral efforts to “apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield and to disarm and demobilise Lord’s Resistance Army fighters.”
Introduced by key members of both major US political parties, the legislation would also provide $20 million in the coming year for humanitarian aid to civilians in Central Africa affected by LRA actions and for efforts to promote recovery and reconciliation in northern Uganda.
“The introduction of this Bill demonstrates the growing consensus on the need for greater US leadership to disarm top LRA leaders and permanently end this violence,” said Democratic Congressman James McGovern.
Republican Congressman Ed Royce said the bill “rightly targets” LRA leader Joseph Kony.
“Kony’s removal is essential to peace in the region,” Royce declared.
It is fashionable to blame conflict in Africa on poverty and other environmental factors,” Royce wrote in a blog he posts on his congressional website.
“But sometimes just getting rid of one person does make a big difference. ..."
Posted by: b real | Jun 8 2009 3:19 utc | 30
argh - the five designees were added in march. the may update is different.
Posted by: b real | Jun 8 2009 3:37 utc | 31
Psst ... new code words for June ... are you listening?
Yes, sir. Go ahead.
"Green shoots".
What's that, sir?
"Green ... shoots".
Yes, sir.
And another thing, Binyamin.
Yes, sir?
"Clear and hold." You got it? That is all.
Posted by: Generally McShamed | Jun 8 2009 3:57 utc | 32
Don,
Thanks for the enlightening post. So many national emergencies, so little time!
Annie,
WOW! Such a super group of people. It is so good to know that they are not “mentally challenged”, impolite or worse yet, ugly. But do they have five fingers on each hand? Check closely. I guess the Israelis are just jealous – that explains everything. So, is this story about many in Gaza being scammed totally false?
Posted by: Rick | Jun 8 2009 4:15 utc | 33
For annie, et al..
The new animated film created by Yoni Goodman, Director of Animation for the Academy Award-nominated film "Waltz with Bashir", together with the human rights group Gisha. "Closed Zone" shows the closure of the Gaza Strip and its effects on the ability of 1.5 million human beings living there to fulfill their daily needs, as well as their dreams and aspirations
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jun 8 2009 4:22 utc | 34
@ b real,
blocking property is the way to go!
Executive Order 13,438: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq
Executive Order 13464--blocking property and prohibiting certain transactions related to Burma.
EXECUTIVE ORDER: BLOCKING PROPERTY OF PERSONS IN CONNECTION WITH THE CONFLICT IN SUDAN'S DARFUR REGION
EXECUTIVE ORDER EO 13348: Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Importation of Certain Goods from Liberia
Executive Order: Blocking Property of Additional Persons Undermining Democratic Processes or Institutions in Zimbabwe
Executive Order 13382 of June 28, 2005 Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters
Executive Order: Blocking Property of Additional Persons in Connection with the National Emergency with Respect to Syria
etc.
At the Erez crossing, an American-Israeli feminist delegation and left-wing activists dressed like clowns held a rally Sunday to protest the ban on toys entering Gaza.
annie? :-)
I haven't seen many comments on the Iraqi Death Squad link, which surprised me. There is such a huge history on the U.S.'s use of death squads in Latin America -- how they were used, what the results were, what their activities consisted of, how they devolved and what, ultimately, their legacy was for the peoples of those countries -- that i thought there'd be more commentary on it. Also, back in 2005 there was a brief but -- among the left -- vocal hubbub about the appointment of John Negroponte to the post of ambassador to Iraq. The idea was that he was specifically headed there to set up death squads.
Then it pretty much went down the memory hole.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned it here. Perhaps that's 'cause everyone here is already aware of it, and doesn't really need to be reminded. But just in case there were some who aren't on top of things, i did a quick search and came up with a few links to "Let your fingers do the walking", as the old jingle goes.
That said, in light of the history of death squads in Latin America -- the directly neighboring territory to the U.S. sphere of direct cultural influence -- i just can't imagine that they'll be any more effective in an innately hostile lands half-way 'round the world.
Finally, as i was pulling up the links above, i came across this provocative piece from the GlobalResearch website, about the Hariri assassination and its context. Don't know how many here have read it, but it's new to me and i'd appreciate any insight or opinions y'all can offer.
Posted by: china_hand2 | Jun 9 2009 2:36 utc | 38
Thanks, also, Don Bacon, for the "Nat. Emergency" bit up there.
And cheers, annie. Clowns??
Posted by: china_hand2 | Jun 9 2009 4:11 utc | 39
The comments to this entry are closed.
From Pat Langs blog, http://www.philipweiss.org/mondoweiss/2009/06/max-blumenthal-feeling-the-hate-in-jerusalem-on-eve-of-obamas-cairo-address.html>Max Blumenthals video reaction to B.O.'s Middle East speech from American and Israeli Jews in Jerusalem. The conempt for B.O. is really quite shocking, but according to the authors, quite normal. Makes the IDF T-shirt scandal all the more believable.
Posted by: anna missed | Jun 7 2009 7:53 utc | 1