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The Inevitable Transition in Iran
1 hour ago
Thursday, September 17, 2009
September 17 2009 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Steinbeck, Seeger, And Labor's Entitlement To The Fruits Thereof
"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now." September 17 2009 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The 'Labor Movement Of My Youth' - Steinbeck, Seeger, And Labor's Entitlement To The Fruits Thereof[Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [192kbps VBR 10:31 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Twitter This Commentary |
President Obama cleans out one more 'stygian stall' in the Bush administration's foreign policy stable... The Eastern European 'Missile Shield', ostensibly to defend them against (wait for it...) The Persians(!?!) has been scrapped. Instead we'll attempt to deploy mobile weapons systems... Perhaps like the ones we sold to Georgia which they promptly used against South Ossetia despite a 'promise' not to do so.
The US and Cuba are currently discussing a (AP, from Sept. 01) lifting of the ban on postal service to that Caribbean country. The Cuban trade embargo was renewed for one year yesterday, but it may very well be the last time that happens.
The president has delayed "For A While" any further decisions on more troops to Afghanistan until the State department's foreign policy wonks can figure out if it's possible to bribe them over to our side. (Hint: It didn't work in Iraq and it's even LESS likely to work in Afghanistan.)
Juan Cole @ Informed Comment argues against president Obama's (and Jamie Rubin, adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University) rejection of "any analogy between Vietnam and Afghanistan":
(President Obama said:)“You have to learn lessons from history. On the other hand, each historical moment is different. You never step into the same river twice. And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam.”Obama may be the first American president to quote pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus.
Obama, however, is taking an unusually anti-social science stance in saying this. Social history, political science and sociology are all premised on our ability to attain at least medium-range generalizations about big social movements and groups. Thus, the process of decolonization after WW II, while it unfolded differently in different colonies/ countries, did have some common or at least widespread characteristics. One of the reasons the Project for a New American Century and the Bush administration failed in their attempt to reinvent 19th-century empire in the 21st century is that peoples of the global south are now politically and socially mobilized en masse in a way they were not in 1850. Some 15,000 British troops could no longer hope to hold all of India. In some important respects, "Vietnam" partook of characteristics of decolonization and one could compare it to Algeria, e.g.
On Wednesday morning, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" had as a guest Jamie Rubin, an adjunct professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia U., and a "kitchen" adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the president (also husband of CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour). Rubin also took up cudgels against the Vietnam analogy. He said that in Vietnam the whole world was against the US, whereas in Afghanistan this is not the case. But the extremely wealthy Oil Gulf is against the US-- at least its private billionaires are-- and Pakistan is at least ambivalent. Russia is also ambivalent, worried about a permanent US landlocked aircraft carrier on the doorstep of Central Asia. And, anyway, movements sometimes succeed even if they are based only on one ethnicity in a country and even if they are mainly indigenous.
Here's a key exchange... [In Full at Juan Cole's Informed Comment]
According to AFGHANI election officials, the national vote went 54.9% to Hamid Karzai, therefore no run-off election will be necessary. The word 'election' is being used in the loosest sense of the word here.
Welcome to your next "dirty, hot war" America! In Mogadishu Somalia, there has been a counter-insurgent (remember, the US, the other African nations involved, AND the UN picked government, the TFG, that illegally ousted a duly elected one (the ICU) with the direct help of the CIA, are technically 'insurgent') response to a US helicopter-borne invasion and the concurrent killing of an al-Shabaab leader whom the US chose to label as an al Qaeda operative. Two United Nations marked vans drove up to an airport building where African Union military leaders were meeting (because it's too dangerous to go anywhere else in the city) and BOOOM! Dead invaders.
Then, apparently in retaliation, the Ugandan detachment stationed at the airport shelled civilian populations...
“We have collected the bodies of seven civilians, including women and children,” Ali Muse Sheikh, a paramedic who works for Lifeline and the Nationlink Ambulance Service, said by phone from the city today. “Up to 17 other were wounded, most of them with shrapnel wounds.” The battle broke out south of Mogadishu, where the Ugandan peacekeepers, government troops and insurgents all have bases.
“There was shelling from the Ugandan base that hit residential areas, most probably in retaliation for this morning’s attack,” Mahamoud Ahmed Saalim, a Bakara resident, said. “Three people died in our village after a shell exploded.”
The Somali rebels have also called for foreign reinforcements...
In OTHER news... Yes! Canada HAS Universal Health Care... But not EVERYONE gets the same service, inferior or not: "Health Canada shipped dozens of body bags to aboriginal communities in Manitoba that have been hit hard by swine flu."
"This is an absolute disgrace. This is morally appalling," Liberal health critic Dr. Carolyn Bennett said in a news release. "Instead of flu-kits, instead of preparing and planning to get the vaccine on time -instead of planning to save lives - they spent their time planning on how to deal with the deaths."
[In Full at CTV.ca]
Finally! The "Recession" is over!
U.S. Government Finds $20 Trillion Buried By Absentminded Reagan In 1987
WASHINGTON — While senior officials were initially unsure of where the hoard of valuables had come from, a number of clues—most notably a framed photo of former first lady Nancy Reagan accompanied by the note 'Don't be angry with me, Mommy'—seemed to point to the 40th president.
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"Everything is here," added Obama, standing among the towering stacks of money, as well as several other items that were uncovered, including three dozen toothbrushes, multiple tire hubcaps, two teddy bears, and a broken desk lamp. "This truly is a tribute to Mr. Reagan's incredible presence of mind."
According to the White House, the surprising discovery was made early Tuesday morning by members of the gardening staff. Less than an hour later, an estimated $19 billion had been dug up from the yard.[In Full @ OnionNews]
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