AS THE WORLD SQUIRMSã

Monday, February 16, 2009

 

 

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Note: Some items contained herein may have additional formatting, emphasis and hotlinks added for context and perspective  ~ Owen

 

 

 

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 In case you missed it, Queen Noor of Jordan, Patrick Buchanan and Richard Haas (Council on Foreign Relations) have a serious discussion concerning Washington’s Israel policy.

 

 

Israeli War in Gaza - Part 1/video

 

 

Israeli War in Gaza - Part 2/video

 

January 21,

UN moves to charge Israel with war crimes

Several diplomats have reported that the commission would be led by the former British secretary-general of human rights group Amnesty International, Ian Martin. Takasu said the commission would later report back to the Security Council, which would then decide how to respond. Diplomats have expressed skepticism as to whether a Security Council inquiry would take place, saying they thought it unlikely that Israel's ally the United States, which has a veto in the council, would allow the 15-nation body to adopt the report as its own.

 

 

Israel ready to launch “Aggressive War” against Iran

In the wake of Gaza, can the world afford to live with a nuclear Israel?

 

 

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AFRICOM: Did Washington engineer another disastrous African military operation?

By Tony Karumba – AFP

2.10.09

 

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote enthusiastically about the tri-government military operation that Uganda, Congo, and Southern Sudan were undertaking to root out the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Unfortunately, since then, things haven't been going well. The LRA managed to survive the initial military onslaught, and went on to massacre as many as 900 civilians since the military offensive began in mid-December. Joseph Kony, the group's notorious leader, is still alive and well. (While the LRA's deputy commander is set to surrender soon, it was Kony's death or capture that was the main point of the endeavor.)

 

Yet, just when this military venture was about to fizzle out with its primary objective still not met, an interesting piece of news, courtesy of the New York Times, has now thrown the operation back into the spotlight. On Feb. 7, the Times reported that the United States, through the Pentagon's newly minted Africa Command (or Africom), was heavily involved in the planning of the operation -- supplying intelligence, supplies, and more than a million dollars in fuel aid. (Continue)

 

 

 

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·       Israel Intends to “Instruct” Obama on U.S. Iran Policy

 

·       Does Zionism legitimize every act of violence?

 

·       TEN-BILLION-DOLLARS: Bankrupt U.S. Taxpayers Financed The Emigration of Russian Jews to Israel – The Primary Source of Illegal Settlements in Israeli Occupied Palestine

 

·       U.S. expected to pressure Israel on settlement construction

 

 

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·       Washington Federal Debt Exceeds World GDP...

 

·       Marc Faber: "U S will either default on debt or enter hyperinflation" 02-05-09/video

 

 

 

·       Hijacking Catastrophe: Sorrows of Empire pt. 1/video

 

 

Warmongers Love Recessions and "Hard Times Flush the Chumps."

 

 

An American Foreign Legion: Is the US Military Now an Imperial Police Force?

 

By William Astore – TomDispatch.com

 

As the Obama administration begins to deploy U.S. troops back to the Iraq or Afghan war zones for their fourth or fifth tours of duty, I remain amazed at the silent complicity of my country. Why have we been so quiet? Is it because the Bush administration was, in fact, successful in sending our military down the path to foreign legion-hood? Is the fate of our troops no longer of much importance to most Americans?

 

Even the military's recruitment and demographics are increasingly alien to much of the country. Troops are now regularly recruited in "foreign" places like South Central Los Angeles and Appalachia that more affluent Americans wouldn't be caught dead visiting. In some cases, those new recruits are quite literally "foreign" -- non-U.S. citizens allowed to seek a fast-track to citizenship by volunteering for frontline, war-zone duty in the U.S. Army or Marines. And when, in these last years, the military has fallen short of its recruitment goals -- less likely today thanks to the ongoing economic meltdown -- mercenaries have simply been hired at inflated prices from civilian contractors with names like Triple Canopy or Blackwater redolent of foreign adventures.

 

With respect to demographics, it'll take more than the sons of Joe Biden and Sarah Palin to redress inequities in burden-sharing. With startlingly few exceptions, America's sons and daughters dodging bullets remain the progeny of rural America, of immigrant America, of the working and lower middle classes. As long as our so-called best and brightest continue to be AWOL when it comes to serving among the rank-and-file, count on our foreign adventurism to continue to surge.

(Continue)

 

 

·       Is an empire necessary? Bring the troops home, from everywhere.

 

·       Taking on the military-industrial complex (Pt.4)/video

 

·       Weapons programs re-branded as jobs programs/video

 

·       REPORT: Senior US military officers targets of corruption probe

 

·       “Gaming” Our New President: Petraeus 'leaked' Iraq pullout plans: “The real story of the leak by Petraeus is that the most powerful figure in the US military has tried to shape the media coverage of Obama and combat troop withdrawal from Iraq to advance his policy agenda – and, very likely, his personal political interests as well.”

 

·       POLLS: Pulse of the Nation (RealClearPolitics.com)

 

·       Time for America to Get Small (by Eric Margolis,
The Toronto Sun)

 

 

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