"On this Memorial Day, it is time to start thinking about how to get out of Afghanistan, where the US has no vital interest"
Juan, our national interest in this war zone is exactly the same as it is in all of the many others we have fostered. It is simply the unending and extremely profitable sale and disposal of war materiel. So we have to live with a bit of co-lateral damage. Unintended consequences are just that ... unintended. Get over it. You live in America and she's the big dog on the block.
It works both ways. On many occasions, Israel has acted in ways that clearly warranted UN condemnation only to have it vetoed by the US. What else is new? Ethics? Morality? These are characteristics to be found occasionally in the exceptional individual, never in national governments. Money and power are all that matter.
How many innocent civilians died in those cruise missile strikes against Tripoli? How much damage was done to critical infrastructure? There has been virtually no information in the MSM. Why is that?
"Night-Time View of Alexandria, Cairo and the Nile Valley from the NASA Space Station"
Er... sorry. It's actually the International Space Station. Better get with the program. Pretty soon, with the Space Shuttle phasing out, you'll be hitching a ride with the Russians if you want to come visit.
"In 2006-2007, the guerrillas did provoke a civil war, and all that happened was that Shiites ethnically cleansed Sunni Arabs from mixed neighborhoods in the capital, expelling hundreds of thousands of them."
Is this perhaps an historical revision. I thought the Sunnis, equipped and financed by the US, were simply taking part in the so-called Surge. .
Tim, I could not agree more. Shooting at US aircraft would surely be a hazardous undertaking, but hardly crazy. I think the big dog is finally showing its fangs openly and no longer cares who is observing. The US has few real friends worldwide. However, they might get a bit more respect if they just spared us the hypocrisy. How about a clear statement of their strategic military and economic goals and no more talk of terrorists and spreading democracy.
Israel is simply a giant military base or if you prefer, local policeman that the US uses to protect it's economic interests in the Middle East. The US has always managed to overlook the shortcomings (and atrocities) of governments that are able to sustain a climate that is favorable to US business interests. Israel is a case in point. Just look at the number of UN resolutions put forward over the years to sanction Israel that have been vetoed by the US. If Sadaam had hewed to the line, he would still be the good guy and the Gulf wars would never have happened. There is clearly no intent on the part of the US Government that a peace between Israel and the Palestinians should actually result from the so-called "Peace Process". Although the descriptor sounds noble and plays well with the American public, it is deeply cynical.
Excellent analysis. Direct, logically structured and written with admirable clarity. Difficult reading for those who subscribe to the "gifting of democracy" myth.
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Why do you refer to the Sunnis as an "insurgency"?
Why the preoccupation with :"Bangs"? In reality the defence budget is just a welfare program for the defence industries.
"On this Memorial Day, it is time to start thinking about how to get out of Afghanistan, where the US has no vital interest"
Juan, our national interest in this war zone is exactly the same as it is in all of the many others we have fostered. It is simply the unending and extremely profitable sale and disposal of war materiel. So we have to live with a bit of co-lateral damage. Unintended consequences are just that ... unintended. Get over it. You live in America and she's the big dog on the block.
It works both ways. On many occasions, Israel has acted in ways that clearly warranted UN condemnation only to have it vetoed by the US. What else is new? Ethics? Morality? These are characteristics to be found occasionally in the exceptional individual, never in national governments. Money and power are all that matter.
How many innocent civilians died in those cruise missile strikes against Tripoli? How much damage was done to critical infrastructure? There has been virtually no information in the MSM. Why is that?
"Night-Time View of Alexandria, Cairo and the Nile Valley from the NASA Space Station"
Er... sorry. It's actually the International Space Station. Better get with the program. Pretty soon, with the Space Shuttle phasing out, you'll be hitching a ride with the Russians if you want to come visit.
Correction:
Is this perhaps an historical revision. I thought the Shiites, equipped and financed by the US, were simply taking part in the so-called Surge. .
"In 2006-2007, the guerrillas did provoke a civil war, and all that happened was that Shiites ethnically cleansed Sunni Arabs from mixed neighborhoods in the capital, expelling hundreds of thousands of them."
Is this perhaps an historical revision. I thought the Sunnis, equipped and financed by the US, were simply taking part in the so-called Surge. .
Tim, I could not agree more. Shooting at US aircraft would surely be a hazardous undertaking, but hardly crazy. I think the big dog is finally showing its fangs openly and no longer cares who is observing. The US has few real friends worldwide. However, they might get a bit more respect if they just spared us the hypocrisy. How about a clear statement of their strategic military and economic goals and no more talk of terrorists and spreading democracy.
Israel is simply a giant military base or if you prefer, local policeman that the US uses to protect it's economic interests in the Middle East. The US has always managed to overlook the shortcomings (and atrocities) of governments that are able to sustain a climate that is favorable to US business interests. Israel is a case in point. Just look at the number of UN resolutions put forward over the years to sanction Israel that have been vetoed by the US. If Sadaam had hewed to the line, he would still be the good guy and the Gulf wars would never have happened. There is clearly no intent on the part of the US Government that a peace between Israel and the Palestinians should actually result from the so-called "Peace Process". Although the descriptor sounds noble and plays well with the American public, it is deeply cynical.
Excellent analysis. Direct, logically structured and written with admirable clarity. Difficult reading for those who subscribe to the "gifting of democracy" myth.