The endless war continues: Taking stock of U.S. strategy under Obama

The long term decline of the United States IS inevitable - not because of the way the country is being managed, but because the developing world, especially China and India, is destined to catch up to and overtake the country.

which reminds me, i haven't revisted www.un.org for awhile to see what's happening with that finance and development conference, via the UN pres' page. and i've been baked by the heat today and have to go out again ,

cant wait til winter [chuckle..sometimes you have to laugh at yourself...

just thought about the Sri Lankan situation, you know China and India and the US and other countries all had a role in making sure Tamils in the north didn't control the fossil fuel reserves offshore from their homelands.

Big powers get away with this because of their entanglements in finance, their continued propping up of the farce that is the banker-controlled so-called 'market'.

i'm thinking about this now because an employment opportunity has opened up, but the continuation of that workplace is dependent upon partial gov't grants which require 2/3 of the group's income to come from 'leveraged funding' ie) private sector funding, from the very industries which are the greatest culprits of the issues the group is mandated to address.  so you get this wierd situation in a job where you can only pick away at the problem while ensuring the problem remains rooted, so that you continue to have a job.

for some reason my current employment, though with very little income, at least gives me peace of mind in some respects, though uncertainties and hard work in other respects. 

all of us keep butting heads with industrial/ financial rulers, and there do not seem to be any real good solutions at present.

maybe there are some options if people 'starve' the rulers, ie) build up their own alternatives, and try to keep away from the casino. get security elsewhere.

Waging War Upon Our Friends

http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2009/07/02/waging-war-upon-our...

"The United States corporacracy is a monstrous devouring beast and "Islamist terror" is her illegitimate offspring. "Al Qaeda" is fake. The war on terror is a fraud. The fraud is a plan for world war..."

Michael Hudson's "Super Imperialism"

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2009/07/michael-hudsons-super-imperialism....

"In other words, the global 'dollar glut' finances US corporate takeovers, speculative sucesses creating bubbles and global economic crises, America's reckless spending, foreign wars, hundreds of bases worldwide, 'military buildup', and a culture of militarism, a belligerence overall at the expense of democratic freedoms, beneficial social change, and human and civil rights.."

Release of the "Holy Grail" of US Torture Reports Delayed Again:

http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/07/01/release-of-the-holy-grail-of...

The Launching of US Cyber Command

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14186

"America needs the ability to carpet-bomb in cyberspace to create the deterrent we need"

This is the Obama presidency - how do you like it so far?

The Base Court: Another Fortress Rising in America's Ring of Iron

http://www.chris-floyd.com/component/content/article/3/1791-the-base-cou...

"It is one of the most extraordinary episodes in world history. But it will almost certainly not be mentioned next week when Barack Obama visits Moscow--where as the proud head of a machine that has killed a million innocent people in Iraq and is killing thousands more in Afghanistan, as the stout defender and expander of the authoritarian power grabs of his White House predecessor and a staunch shield for torturers and other war criminals, he will scold the Russians for their lack of liberty and human rights.." CF

"and I'm also down in Washington to meet with key senior Democrats about how they waged a winning campaign for change that put everyday people first, ahead of the big corporate interests - just like we want to do in Canada. Together we can build a movement for change right here in Canada. And Obama's inner circle will help. Once again, this is what you get when you support your New Democrats." NDP

change you can believe in eh?

Yes, the axis of entitled-criminal-agression flashes the green for Iran attack
-- with the added bonus of guaranteeing there is no pesky successful democratisation movement in Iran.

And seconded by the theo-thugocratic US client state, Saudi Arabia:

Is it really an increase of troop causalities? Can we compare this new offensive by the US in Helmand province to last year offensive operations by the British?

The Helmand river valley has always been a hotbed of activity for the British and the now the US, it is equivalent to Zhari and Panjwayi districts for the Canadians.

The war is a fucking embarrassment. We have been waging an illegal genocidal war in Afghanistan for over seven years, using technologically advanced weapons against crude low tech weapons used by simple peasants. We are not anywhere nearer to defeating them in Helmand and Kandahar provinces now as when we began. The more troops we send over there and the more we escalate the level of violence, the more insurgents pick up arms against us. We are losing the hearts and minds and, therefore, the war. Abysmally. Like the Russians before us, we are going to get our asses kicked.

Support the Troops

Support Peace

Bring Our Troops Home Now!

Oh yes indeed, NATO leadership has shown such understanding and brilliance in whichever country they were left in charge after some obligatory military pounding. Those countries were guaranteed to have achieved peace with dignity and respect for human rights. Countries like Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo, Afghanistan...

And why ruin a good thing?? The bloated retro-style alliance continues to grow, absorb gullible members, and waste more taxpayer money.

But they shouldnt fear. The butchers who used cluster bombs on Balkan civilians will never be brought to justice because they were defending 'Western values'.

Even restrospectively, when the Imperial planners admit their arrogant failures, the corporate press still whitewashes them. Case in point, Cheney admitting Iraq never had WMDs, and the news sailing by like a paper plane in a rowdy classroom.

I wasnt talking about babble really, but on a greater scale in the world MSM and public opinion. As long as we all continue to trust in MSM with its distortions and omissions (see Honduras coup), we will keep the soil fertile for the Western elite's future plans of more invasions and resource grabs.

One case in point that i tried to refer to is of NATO commanders not being brought to justice for disgusting use of cluster bombs against Yugoslav and Albanian civilians in 1999. And since I read a detailed article in The Independent a couple of years ago, there has been zero discussions of that. The Iraq war crimes responsibility has also been ignored, even though it had a much higher body count.

NDPP

All media is corrupt.

Frmsldr

Yes that may be the case, however all media have biases. You have right and left wing media spinning their views on any issue.  

Each media organization is trying to push their views on each issue, which is fine in my view. People need to understand that they are being pushed certain views from certain organizations, and for a balanced approach people need to gather their news from every media organization in order to have a better picture of the issue being discussed.

Journalist are sometimes no better than lawyers and politicians.

Genocide in Darfur: Psyops Deconstructed

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14299

"It has been reported that African Unity will not cooperate with the ICC indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir. This is a poitive development, and I wold like to submit my own analysis and testimony on behalf of Sudan, in a spirit of defiant resistance and for the cause of truth."

Oh, I agree with you about the msm, they have not told the truth about any number of things. Say nothing of failure to report even more things.

rabble is one small, centrist media site, definitely not left, as opposed to right.

Now...I call that whole media launching of the movement to rename a section of Hwy, to glorify fallen soldiers in a colonial war, pretty damn positive.  As is not reporting on how many innocents have been slaughtered by our military. And their touting the freedom for Afghans line in accordance with colonial government dictates.

The participation of some in the NATO military in the New Saxon movement, which is known to the military leaders, but yet goes unactioned, merely underscores what I indicated long ago here, about the army.ca website and some of those posting there using quotes of Hitler to up lift them.

Only someone the right would see rabble as left. It is indeed centrist.

I do not know of any left wing media sites.

I consider all mainstream media news readers today to have a right wing bias, unless they are feminists. And no I do not believe they have been honest as per my points above.

See above.

You can  go to the new saxon website, it is those 2 words plus .org, and I have not been back to army.ca since I discovered  that some there love Hitler, so I do not know if they have mentioned new saxon affiliation there, or not.

The Canadian corporate media are all embedded within the occupation forces in Afghanistan and they will not do anything to jeopardise their privileged postition. They don't report the "truth", because there is no "truth". There is the occupier's story, and that is it. Since it is the occupier's story, there is no need to pursue other truths, because by definition We are Right.

I have not seen a single corporate media story questioning the Afghanistan occupation. Indeed, merely calling it such is far out beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse. It is a "mission", like a mission from God himself to pacify and civilize the heathen savage, and woe be unto any well-fed western journalist who dares to question the will of God. Even Jack Layton agrees.

If you seek "balance", or "objective", or "centerist" views, you are already operating within a worldview that believes such nonsense exists, like virgin births or the evil eye. "Centerist", in this case means "whatever agrees with my preconceptions".

It isn't the case of the media being dishonest, or incompetent, or that they "mistold the truths" (whatever that bushlike saying means). The media report what the consensual elite opinion is on the matter. Truth, honesty, or other naive concepts are irrelevant when you have masters to please. So, the story is Canadian troops are in Afghanistan at the request of the democratically elected Karzai government, to build hospitals, schools and roads, and to defeat the enemy of civilization everywhere (the Taliban, whose mere existence is a threat to even Canadians at home) so the people of Afghanistan, especially young girls, can reap the benefits of democracy, freedom, and free markets. And that is what the media will tell us, with consumate professionalism.

No...I think that any site that allows right wing discourse  in it, is pretty much in the  centre, as you cannot build a completely left "community" with right wing participants.

Oh I know, I know.

Frmrsldr wrote:

Slumberjack wrote:

nothing is released unless it is authorized in writing from the top, which is the CDS/DM/MND level.

Oh I know, I know.  

I mention it only out of some lingering sense of compassion, in recalling an informal chat I was having with one of them during the Somalia scandal, where 'sniff' the gist was that 'they're blaming it all on us.'  Luckily, it was sleeves down season at the time.

It is not a matter of purity at all, nor have I stated that I disagree with the centrist nature of rabble. I merely stated it was not left, but centre.

I don't see a lot of marxist philosophy writing by the commentators, nor support for communism, do you? Rabble is a privately owned for profit site, not a collective.

Perhaps those viewing rabble with a right conceptual framework see it as being left, as opposed to realizing it is more centrist than left?

Obama's Ghana Speech

http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/07/12/obamas-ghana-speech/

"In the same fashion that was on display in his Cairo speech, Obama understood how to use words in Ghana that would make him appear as transcending colonialism, almost like the second coming of Frantz Fanon.."

US Strategy of Total Energy Control over the European Union and Eurasia

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14412

"Nabucco is an integral part of a US strategy of total energy control over both the EU and all Eurasia" - William Engdahl

Clinton Delivers Unwanted Tidings to New Delhi

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KG22DF01.html

"the heart of the matter is that the US cannot allow any third party to interrupt the critically important business of its close collaboration with Islamabad to stabilize Afghanistan through dialogue with the Taliban...Furthermore, as the great game accelerates in Central Asia and if the situation around Iran assumes criticality, Pakistan is becoming a key partner. Pakistan's brusque integration into NATO is self evident.."