The chron article linked to mentions warnings issued to Westerners in Benghazi. The article leaves out the response to those warnings. In fact, people did not panic, did not flee Benghazi. This was a volatile situation, a volatile region and everyone there made a conscious decision to be in the midst of that volatile situation. They had a job to do and that job could not be accomplished by fleeing. Apparently, beefing up security wasn't an option and although in hindsight it may have saved lives, the likelihood is that it wouldn't help engage the local populace to be further militarizing the operation. What puzzles me most is how this has blown up in the American political dialogue while the deaths of twenty schoolchildren is basically shrugged at.
Is Israel really calling the shots? It seems to me the biggest factor is American domestic politicking without regard to Israeli interests. Decades of American interference have coarsened and brutalized Israeli politics.
A popular uprising isn't in America's interest because a government popular with Iranians isn't likely to be a government popular with America's movers and shakers.
If you "believe" in democracy then you can read the results of the election as not reflecting anger so much as caution. The Democrats were handed all the levers of power for two years which is as close to tyranny as a democratic system allows. That tyranny was bestowed by the people in order to deal with a public emergency.
As for predictions, it is right to expect D.C. to be crazytown for the next few years because it has always been crazytown. As for Obama, now he can deal directly with corporations through their congressional minions the Republicans.
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The chron article linked to mentions warnings issued to Westerners in Benghazi. The article leaves out the response to those warnings. In fact, people did not panic, did not flee Benghazi. This was a volatile situation, a volatile region and everyone there made a conscious decision to be in the midst of that volatile situation. They had a job to do and that job could not be accomplished by fleeing. Apparently, beefing up security wasn't an option and although in hindsight it may have saved lives, the likelihood is that it wouldn't help engage the local populace to be further militarizing the operation. What puzzles me most is how this has blown up in the American political dialogue while the deaths of twenty schoolchildren is basically shrugged at.
Is Israel really calling the shots? It seems to me the biggest factor is American domestic politicking without regard to Israeli interests. Decades of American interference have coarsened and brutalized Israeli politics.
A popular uprising isn't in America's interest because a government popular with Iranians isn't likely to be a government popular with America's movers and shakers.
If you "believe" in democracy then you can read the results of the election as not reflecting anger so much as caution. The Democrats were handed all the levers of power for two years which is as close to tyranny as a democratic system allows. That tyranny was bestowed by the people in order to deal with a public emergency.
As for predictions, it is right to expect D.C. to be crazytown for the next few years because it has always been crazytown. As for Obama, now he can deal directly with corporations through their congressional minions the Republicans.