If she were a man, she would be Joe Lieberman. She'll get the left's support because, whereas she'll be a disaster, Trump will be an extinction-level-event. But let's end the charade that she is anything but a corporatist and imperialist who represents the ruling class, whose entire career is based on her husbands success.
Chickenhawk is not a term applied to those who avoided service when their number came up, as you state, but rather to those who avoid it altogether. The draft was eliminated in the early-70s. West Point began admitting female cadets in the mid-70s. Clinton had ample opportunities to join. She never did. Subsequently, she has supported, and advocated, US military action on numerous occasions.
With respect to the writer's points, he could be described as trying to handwave in order to reach his predetermined conclusions. Clinton did not just back a no-fly zone and exult at Gaddafi's demise, she pushed for regime change. And the argument that Daesh is a result of the occupation and punitive policies only, to divorce it from the war, stretches the boundaries of sophistry. (The latter, concerning Daesh and Iraq, is particularly egregious. It's the kind of nonsense one expects from Sam Harris and his ilk.)
"He voted in favor of regime change with Libya, voted in favor of the Security Council being an active participate in setting the parameters for what we would do, which of course we followed through on. "
UNSC Resolution 1973 did not authorize regime change in Libya. It called for protecting civilians through a no-fly zone and cease-fire, among other things. Clinton pushed for regime change and argued that it would be legal under the terms of the resolution to arm the rebels, even though the resolution called for an arms embargo. One of the reasons it has been so difficult to get non-NATO countries to support resolutions with respect to Syria is that they don't trust the US, UK, France because of Libya.
Friedman's criticism of Netanyahu may be welcome, but he has defended, and even advocated, Israeli aggression for decades. Some within the Jewish diaspora may have split with Netanyahu, but that does not mean they are advocating dignity and justice for the Palestinians. Moreover, the unprecedented turmoil in the ME is a to a large degree the result of American aggression in the region, something Friedman, and other Liberal Imperialists, refuse to acknowledge.
While I have issues with Professor Cole's analysis of NATO involvement in Libya, it's important that he has written this, and I wish it would penetrate the MSM. If you go through the message boards on the MSM sites, Trump's position is quite popular. There is this notion that Muslims can only live under dictatorships because they are (fill in the blank with every repugnant racist trope you can think of). Conrad Black puts forth the dictatorship thesis over at the National Post. Even many of the realists within the American foreign policy establishment, while decrying dictatorships, ultimately defend their utility with respect to American interests.
I generally agree with much of what you have to write and say, in addition to the influence you have had on my knowledge of the Middle East and Islamic history, but I have to disagree with your Libya comments.
NATO refused to investigate civilian deaths, and possible war crimes, during the bombing of Libya. “100 civilians and a few thousand regime troops” has as much legitimacy as the US Government’s claim that only 100 000 or so Iraqis died as a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Gaddafi may have been a monster, but to pretend that NATO is some noble organization concerning itself with human rights and the betterment of humanity is beyond naïve. The country was left in ruins. Patrick Cockburn and Robert Fisk filed excellent reports of how dire the situation became after NATO left.
And Libya was also a war based on lies. Amnesty, HRW, DWB, and the UN found no evidence that Gaddafi ordered mass rapes as claimed by the rebels and Secretary Clinton.
Ahtisaari held talks with envoys from the five permanent members of the UN security council in February 2012. He said that during those discussions, the Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, laid out a three-point plan, which included a proposal for Assad to cede power at some point after peace talks had started between the regime and the opposition.
But he said that the US, Britain and France were so convinced that the Syrian dictator was about to fall, they ignored the proposal.
“It was an opportunity lost in 2012,” Ahtisaari said in an interview.
I have been going through the various message boards on the Guardian, Slate, Globe & Mail, Yahoo, etc. The venom towards those fleeing unbearable conditions is quite appalling. (Not to mention the disgusting unadulterated hatred of Muslims.) It was the US-UK destruction of Iraq that directly led to the rise of ISIS. It is the NATO occupation of Afghanistan that fuels the fighting in AfPak. Libya is in tatters because NATO bombed the country and overthrew the regime. The US drone program pushes more and more despondent individuals towards radicalization, which in turn, further destabilizes the region. Every NATO member has a responsibility to settle refugees.
I am just wondering what other people think: what right did the United States have to place sanctions on Iran in the first place? Obama claims that it was this deal or war. Another poster advocated maintaining sanctions. Didn't Brazil and Turkey broker a deal with Iran in 2010? And didn't Obama reject that deal? The United States and the other nuclear powers who signed the NPT have never fulfilled Article VI, which calls for disarmament. Hell, they haven't even considered it. (Though Corbyn is advocating disarmament as part of his Labour leadership bid. And I believe there was a Democratic candidate in the early 80s who said they would not respond with nuclear weapons to a Soviet first strike.)
With respect to war mongering, I really do not think Obama is any position to criticize Republicans: increased troops in Afghanistan, increased drone attacks, led the push for UN SC Resolution 1973 that authorized military intervention in Libya (and then went beyond its scope with regime change). On Iraq, Obama spent 2011 trying to convince the Iraq Parliament to offer immunity for US troops so the United States could maintain a military presence. (And the troops did not achieve every mission they were given. Far from it.) And he drew a redline on Syria only to be saved by the Westminster opposition and coalition dissidents.
There were those of us on the extreme/radical/wacky left who observed Obama's Clintonian tendencies during the '08 primaries and early in his presidency. (Cockburn was critical from the start and Chomsky commented on his amoral nature shortly after his inauguration. Tariq Ali was initially excited, but quickly saw what a fraud Obama is.) We were, though, told by Dems and liberals and progressives to shut up and bugger off. Well, America is still a brutal empire and neoliberalism reigns supreme. And we have yet another Clinton to look forward to. Good times. Thanks libs and progs.
I am sorry but I do not consider volunteering to drop fire on Vietnamese peasants from a fighter jet heroic. That he was tortured is awful. But the United States destroyed Vietnam, ruining the lives of millions of people. And McCain has used his war hero status to intimidate others and compensate for his lack of ability. (While he may not be as lacking as Bush, he is still rather simple minded.) I have very little sympathy for him. (And let us not forget his support for the Iraq War, defense of Kissinger, claim that the surge worked, etc.)
The United State is the sole superpower and the only state with global power projection capabilities. It has proven time and again that it will destroy societies. Acquiescing was in Iran’s best interests. It continues a horrible precedent but as long as we live in a world where America is willing to inflict suffering on populations, deals like this are to be celebrated.
I am not sure if Professor Cole wants us to get into this discussion on his message board, but I'll take the bait and let him decide. I will keep it short and say two things. First, I am not sure that the materialist and the theist are making the same assumptions, i.e. the only assumption the materialist is potentially making is that the universe is rationally intelligible. Second, the materialist is not invoking special pleading or shifting the burden of proof, i.e. God can accomplish the impossible, you cannot disprove God, etc.
"This worldview holds that nothing exists beyond what science can catalogue, prove, or deduce. It has never been proved to be true, yet it is never held up to examination by academics ."
Logical Positivism was an influential theory from about the 1920s to 1960s. It was critiques from academics that led to its demise. Some of its principles live on. (Those principles existed before the theory was formulated and are not exclusive to Logical Positivism.) Broadly, as it relates to religion and the proposition of an entity or reality/existence outside of space and time, i.e. known reality/existence, it begs the question, how do you determine the entities/realities/existences that exist outside of known reality/existence? Religion has never provided an answer to this question. And until it does the secular worldview remains the worldview that has the highest probability of providing an accurate description of reality/existence.
- Based on comments from Cameron and Sarkozy, the FSA and Syrian rebels (the Syrian working class primarily) believed NATO would assist them in a fashion similar to that of Libya so they escalated there resistance. But because the euphoria over Libya was short lived and it became a complete disaster that assistance never came.
- In addition to intel and training, the United States was directly involved in providing the rebels arms bought in Eastern Europe, flown into Jordan, and then transported into Syria.
- The Islamic Front existed in name only – the frontline soldiers had no allegiance to each other. Furthermore, similar to the junior ranks of the Pakistani military not wanting to fight the Taliban under Musharraf, younger fighters within the rebel groups did not want to initially fight ISIS or al-Nusra but rather Assad’s forces.
- The FSA is incredibly incompetent: they consistently lost battles to Assad’s forces and to Hezbollah. And even when they defeated Hezbollah the resources expended made the gains worthless. Additionally, one of the primary reasons ISIS was able to gain a foothold in Syria was that they promised to provide law order when the FSA would not.
- It was only around the New Year when John Kerry and the State Department realized what a disaster the Syrian war had become. Saudi assurances (your good friend Prince Bandar principally) concerning al-Nusra and ISIS had not been realized and ISIS controlled a swath of land about the size of the UK. Since then the situation has become significantly worse.
- The US precondition that any agreement with Assad had to involve him giving up power meant that the Geneva talks were always doomed to fail.
I hope that the Americans are successful in rescuing the Yazidis. The world will thank those members of the US military and intel who take part. But please do not expect us to forget that the United States is an Imperial power and that the current suffering in Iraq/Syria/Kurdistan/ISIS “Caliphate” is a direct result of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq and the American support of the proxy war fought in Syria and American drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, et al.
I will repeat what I have said before: leave us - that is the overwhelming majority of the world – alone. We do not want your navy in our docks. We do not want your air force using our air fields and air space. We do not want your soldiers stationed in barracks in our towns and cities. We do not want your intel officers roaming our streets. We do not want your bombs falling on our families and friends. We do not want your modernity to be based on the exploitation of our natural resources and labour.
We would like a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation.
I agree. There is no justification for murdering children. It is not the children's fault that their parents support ethnic cleansing. And while I abhor all those who take part in military occupations, no parent should have to bury their child.
(I will concede though that I think Christopher was speaking more to power dynamics and the chickens coming home to roost.)
Four Americans die in an Embassy attack in Benghazi, Libya; President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton must be held accountable. Three-thousand Americans die in terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC; President Bush must be reelected.
President Obama and Hillary Clinton lied to Americans about the Benghazi Embassy attack for political reasons; President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton must be held accountable. President Bush lied to Americans about Iraqi WMD and links to al-Qaeda to start a war; President Bush must be reelected.
These people are amazing. To paraphrase Heathcliff Huxtable: they are afraid that if they actually think, their brains may blow up and ooze out of their ears.
A great power decides to overthrow the government of Quebec in 2014 because it has a brutal dictator and WMD and supports the world’s most famous terrorist group – even though the great power formerly supported the brutal dictator and the province does not have WMD and does not support the world’s most famous terrorist group. Experts on the region – those with tenure and those on the tenure track are not consulted. The province is defined along sectarian lines – Francophone, Anglophone and First Nations. Francophones are given power. First Nations get autonomy. Anglophones are excluded. Montreal and Quebec City are razed to the ground. The entire infrastructure of the country is destroyed. There is no planning – the occupying force is breathtakingly incompetent. There is no water or power or health care or security. Law enforcement and Canadian forces are disbanded. Members of the Federalist parties are told they have no place in society, as are public sector workers. Criminal organizations – the various ethnic mafias and Hell’s Angels – take over neighborhoods. Foreign states support militias. Psychotic Anglophones from across Canada flood the province to defend their brethren. Local militias take on the occupying force. The leader of the occupying force declares victory. Prisoners are tortured and abused. Soldiers raid homes. Civil disobedience is met with force. Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec is attacked. A civil war breaks out. The civil war is ending; the Anglophones accept defeat. The leader of the largest militia declares a cease fire. The leader of the occupying force decides that the civil war, which is ending mind you, cannot continue and tasks the Chosen One with resolving the situation. A surge is ordered; troops are increased. The occupying force buys off some militias and hires others to form assassination squads. The Chosen One is declared a genius for ending the civil war. No reconciliation has occurred; Quebec is bitterly divided. 250 000 people have been killed. Anglophones have been ethnically cleansed. The media focuses on the loss of prestige and blood and treasure and blames Quebecers. After 8-years the occupying force leaves.
Does anyone believe that by the mid-2020s Quebec would be a functioning democracy?
Al-Qaeda has disassociated itself from ISIS. ISIS has been fighting Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria. This goes back to Al-Qaeda commands concerns about Zarqawi and AQIs behavior in Iraq. Much of ISIS are former AQI. The leader of ISIS, Abu Dua, lead AQI in 2010. They share a similar ideology but compete with each other for influence. Al-Qaeda views ISIS tactics as extreme. The LRB had a good review some months back concerning Al-Qaeda and the calibration of violence, i.e. not too much violence so as to turn off the local population but enough to make the government and potential supporters take them seriously.
So only the United States is allowed to advance its interest? Other countries cannot? Countries should align themselves with America and not China or Russia?
China and Russia are expanding their military technology due to US free trade with them? Really? Did Israel not try to provide high-end technology to China precisely because the US wouldn't provide it? And was Israel not chastised for this? China and Russia combined spend about 30-40% of what the US spends on their military. (It depends where you are getting the numbers from.) China cannot even make their own jet engine - they are reverse engineering old Soviets fighters.
What borders is China enhancing? It does have disputes with its neighbours, but it makes sense for China to allow these disputes to linger and solve them in the future as their power and influence will only increase. For its neighbours, Japan in particular, it makes sense to solve them now. Which is why Japan has been instigating the disputes. China's mistake has been responding aggressively - which is principally for domestic consumption anyways. As far as I can recall, China has not invaded and occupied countries.
With respect to Russia, what did you think would happen if NATO and the EU kept expanding eastwards? (Especially after it was agreed between Gorbachev and Baker & Bush that there would be no eastward expansion.) Would the United States accept a scenario in which Mexico and Cuba joined an economic and military alliance with Russia? Is anything that Russia has done in Crimea or South Ossetia (where Bush and Cheney were complicit) compare to what the United States has done in Afghanistan and Iraq? Shall we compare the number of dead? Injured? Refugees? Is Russia sending drones and destroying villages? Putin may be an autocrat and thug, but his bloodiest moments came in Chechnya, and the US completely backed him then.
Putin could do nothing as the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq or as missiles were placed in Poland. The USS George Washington took part in military drills with South Korea; US fighters were within bombing distance of every major Chinese city; China could do nothing. Neither Russia nor China could stop the overthrow of Gaddafi.
China will have a huge worker problem by the mid-2020s due to the one-child policy. Additionally, the Communist Party has failed in increasing domestic consumer spending, as the savings rate hovers around 50%. 21st-century economies will centre around nano and bio technology and quantum computing - China lags sorely behind the US in these areas. Russia is a de facto rentier state whose economic outlook is very grim.
Where is this parity you claim coming from? The United States remains the only country with global power projection capabilities. And this will not change in the foreseeable future.
It is the United States who has tried to dominate the rest of the world. To claim, as you are, that the world will need protection by the United States from Russo-Chinese aggression is absurd. We would actually be quite relieved if the United States left us alone.
(I'm not in the mood to get into the straw man you presented in the first half of your posting, needless to say, you missed the point concerning American aggression and expansion. And no, not every state behaves in this manner. Regardless, you cannot abdicate responsibility for your behaviour by childishly pointing at others.)
In the run-up to the destruction of Iraq, the US/UK governments told the world that, in addition to WMDs, there was a link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, in some instances intimating that Saddam Hussein was involved on the September 11th attacks. The US/UK destroy the infrastructure of the country in a bombing campaign. There is no post-war planning. No electricity. No water. The army is disbanded. Complete chaos. (Apparently this is not the fault of the war leaders; rather “freedom’s untidy”.) The US military and private contractors commit abuses. Prisoners are tortured and sexually humiliated. Crowds of protestors come under fire. Sunnis are left out of the political process. The US/UK Iraqi leaders of choice are corrupt and incompetent. Unions are banned. Foreign fighters flood the country. Iraqis take up arms. Abu Dua, an Iraqi preacher, sets up a militia to resist the invaders. (Dua is later captured and spends 4-5 years as a US prisoner.) Sadr calls for an immediate withdrawal of US/UK forces and condemns the CPA. The Mahdi Army and Sunni rebels engage US/UK forces in Basra, Najaf, Ramadi, Fallujah, and other cities. Zarqawi and AQI engage in a terror campaign that causes pause even amongst Al-Qaeda command. Zarqawi is killed. The Golden Dome is bombed. A vicious civil war breaks out. The Shi’ites win. Iraqi cities are divided into fortified neighborhoods run by criminal syndicates. Sadr cannot even control his own fighters; they are told to stand down. Later they go on to engage in a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience. The Sunnis realize their mistake and are brought into the political fold; some militias are paid off; others join with the US to form assassination squads. No political reconciliation occurs. AQI is in decline; Abu Dua takes over. The date for withdrawal of US forces approaches; Obama attempts to gain immunity for US soldiers so that troops can remain. He is rebuffed. The Iraqi government cannot provide power or water or security. Iraqi security forces engage in torture and kidnappings. There is a paucity of health care professionals. The country is a mess. (9000+ die from terrorism in 2013. 2014 averages over 1000+ a month. But fear not Bush, Blair, Hitchens, Cohen et al will be vindicated by history.) AQI has evaporated. ISIS forms; led by Abu Dua. Al-Nusra forms. Both enter the Syria. Libyan fighters in Iraq return home and join the rebels opposing Qaddafi. (West Point study confirms that per capita the most foreign fighters in Iraq came from Libya.) NATO is authorized by the UN to implement a no-fly zone in Libya and ensure that no massacre of Libyan civilians takes place. NATO bombs Libya for 7 months. Qaddafi is killed. Libya is controlled by some 1500 militias. 240000 militiamen roam the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi; they are on the government payroll but are loyal to their commanders. NATO refuses to investigate civilian deaths as a result of their 7-month bombing campaign. US embassy in Benghazi is attacked. NATO disassociates itself completely from Libya. Libya stands on the brink of civil war. The Syrian Civil War escalates; Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia back Assad; Turkey, the Gulf dictatorships, and the US support the rebels – FSA, blue collar Syrians, and moderate Islamists. Al-Qaeda confirms Al-Nusra as its official affiliate and breaks ties with ISIS. The US assists the Gulf dictatorships in supplying arms to the moderate Islamists. Assad concentrates on the FSA and blue collar groups. The Islamists fight amongst each other. Sarin gas is used against Syrian civilians. The majority of intelligence agencies, experts, NGOs point to Assad’s forces. Obama concludes red line has been crossed. US intelligence leaks put into question Obama’s claim that Assad is to blame. Further leaks confirm that the Pentagon does not want to enter the Syrian conflict. David Cameron loses a motion in the British House of Commons authorizing the use of force against Assad’s regime. Russia convinces Assad to give op chemical stockpile. ISIS makes gains in Syria. The US expresses concerns that the Saudis, Bandar Bush in particular, have lost control of the situation in Syria. (This assumes they ever had control to begin with.) The FSA is a spent force. The moderate Islamist coalition – the Islamic Front – exists in name only. Arms meant for the Islamic Front end up in the hands of Al-Nusra and ISIS. ISIS controls a swath of land in Iraq and Syria the size of England. ISIS makes incredible gains in Iraq. The US considers re-entering the Iraqi arena.
At what point will Americans reign in control of their leaders and military? All this misery and death has been justified in your names (Joe Klein, a liberal mind you, claimed it’s either American babies or their babies) and using your money? Those of us who are secular, progressive Muslims (disclaimer: I am an atheist) are finding it incredibly difficult to stem the tide of anti-Americanism. We need your help. Even the Iraqi Communist Party supported the invasion partly because of what they saw as the impotence of the left to influence events in the West. (They opposed the principle. And they opposed Bush. But they accepted the reality of the invasion. And even then there was a split in the party. Hitchen’s always misrepresented their position.)
Even if one removes the moral component for a moment and examines this purely from the perspective of empire (or imperialism of hegemony or whatever): what are the power elite in the United States doing?
If I am not mistaken Kirkuk was/is a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad? Will they return control of the city to Baghdad or attempt to absorb it into Kurdistan? How would al-Maliki and the Iraqi Parliament respond?
On another note, I have been perusing the comments sections of various news sites and the Iraq War supporters and anti-Muslim bigots are out in full force. Apparently the current crisis is the result of psychopaths and a fundamental flaw in the Muslim character; a wonderful gift was bequeathed to the Iraqi people but they preferred to slaughter each other because democracy and freedom and liberty are anathema to Muslims. Within this narrative the US/UK invasion and occupation, shock and awe, Abu Ghraib, the Battles of Fallujah, assassination squads, stoking sectarianism, disbanding the army, government corruption and incompetence, etc. have no relation to current events.
What is frightening about the 2nd map is that the potential Sunni state would be an arena in which Salafi Jihadi groups, the Gulf dictatorships, Iran, Turkey, and their respective global allies would vie for influence, i.e. infuse with cash and arms. It is unlikely that Turkey would allow a Kurdish state on their border or that Lebanon and Jordan would not see a massive influx of refugees. (Considering Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria, Lebanon would most likely also see increased fighting.) We should all be thankful that the men and women who advocated and oversaw the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq no longer retain power and influence and that President Obama has implemented a much more nuanced and humane policy…
I recall a discussion that took place at the Frontline Club earlier this year in which the panelists stated that we do not have a very good understanding concerning the composition of ISIL, Al-Nusra, the Islamic Front, and other parties engaged in Iraq and Syria. In particular, the feeling was that we are underestimating the number of local/regional members.
The disease has infected us in Canada. Last week a 24-year old, Justin Bourque, shot five RCMP officers in the Eastern Atlantic city of Moncton. Three were killed and the other two seriously injured. This of course was the work of a lone, deranged individual whose race, religion, and ethnicity are irrelevant.
When Justin commits a crime, it’s Justin’s fault; when Abdullah commits a crime, 1.5 billion Muslims bear responsibility…
"But it was because of a conflict in Gujarat, rather than an economic boom, that Modi gained his popularity among Hindu nationalists (Hindus are 80% of the population) and his notoriety among Muslims and secular liberals."
This is a very important point. In my conversations with many Hindu NRIs - I am Canadian - I have been told that: (1) my family should have left India after partition; (2) Modi had nothing to do with the Gujarat riots; (3) Modi knows how to deal with the "Muslim problem". The latter two remind of the scene from True Believer, when as part of their punishment for a hate-crime, a group of Neo-Nazis meet with Holocaust survivors. One of the young men claims that Hitler never killed any Jews. Ryan Gosling's character, a Jewish Neo-Nazi, responds (and I am paraphrasing here): “Then why do you like him so much?”
So you would agree then that the United States government could have interrogated American journalists returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? And that a gag order could be issued forbidding American newspapers from covering the story?
If she were a man, she would be Joe Lieberman. She'll get the left's support because, whereas she'll be a disaster, Trump will be an extinction-level-event. But let's end the charade that she is anything but a corporatist and imperialist who represents the ruling class, whose entire career is based on her husbands success.
Chickenhawk is not a term applied to those who avoided service when their number came up, as you state, but rather to those who avoid it altogether. The draft was eliminated in the early-70s. West Point began admitting female cadets in the mid-70s. Clinton had ample opportunities to join. She never did. Subsequently, she has supported, and advocated, US military action on numerous occasions.
With respect to the writer's points, he could be described as trying to handwave in order to reach his predetermined conclusions. Clinton did not just back a no-fly zone and exult at Gaddafi's demise, she pushed for regime change. And the argument that Daesh is a result of the occupation and punitive policies only, to divorce it from the war, stretches the boundaries of sophistry. (The latter, concerning Daesh and Iraq, is particularly egregious. It's the kind of nonsense one expects from Sam Harris and his ilk.)
"He voted in favor of regime change with Libya, voted in favor of the Security Council being an active participate in setting the parameters for what we would do, which of course we followed through on. "
UNSC Resolution 1973 did not authorize regime change in Libya. It called for protecting civilians through a no-fly zone and cease-fire, among other things. Clinton pushed for regime change and argued that it would be legal under the terms of the resolution to arm the rebels, even though the resolution called for an arms embargo. One of the reasons it has been so difficult to get non-NATO countries to support resolutions with respect to Syria is that they don't trust the US, UK, France because of Libya.
Friedman's criticism of Netanyahu may be welcome, but he has defended, and even advocated, Israeli aggression for decades. Some within the Jewish diaspora may have split with Netanyahu, but that does not mean they are advocating dignity and justice for the Palestinians. Moreover, the unprecedented turmoil in the ME is a to a large degree the result of American aggression in the region, something Friedman, and other Liberal Imperialists, refuse to acknowledge.
I don't agree with using sanguine to describe Sanders position concerning Assad. I think resigned would be more appropriate.
Just wanted to add to 'Fact 4: The West has prolonged the fighting and blocked a peaceful solution to the conflict':
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside
I find this particularly appalling since any deal we are going to negotiate will look eerily similar to the above.
While I have issues with Professor Cole's analysis of NATO involvement in Libya, it's important that he has written this, and I wish it would penetrate the MSM. If you go through the message boards on the MSM sites, Trump's position is quite popular. There is this notion that Muslims can only live under dictatorships because they are (fill in the blank with every repugnant racist trope you can think of). Conrad Black puts forth the dictatorship thesis over at the National Post. Even many of the realists within the American foreign policy establishment, while decrying dictatorships, ultimately defend their utility with respect to American interests.
I generally agree with much of what you have to write and say, in addition to the influence you have had on my knowledge of the Middle East and Islamic history, but I have to disagree with your Libya comments.
NATO refused to investigate civilian deaths, and possible war crimes, during the bombing of Libya. “100 civilians and a few thousand regime troops” has as much legitimacy as the US Government’s claim that only 100 000 or so Iraqis died as a result of the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
Gaddafi may have been a monster, but to pretend that NATO is some noble organization concerning itself with human rights and the betterment of humanity is beyond naïve. The country was left in ruins. Patrick Cockburn and Robert Fisk filed excellent reports of how dire the situation became after NATO left.
And Libya was also a war based on lies. Amnesty, HRW, DWB, and the UN found no evidence that Gaddafi ordered mass rapes as claimed by the rebels and Secretary Clinton.
We could have started the process to end this in 2012, but Western Imperialism dictates that the suffering of the Syrians is secondary.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/15/west-ignored-russian-offer-in-2012-to-have-syrias-assad-step-aside
From the article:
Ahtisaari held talks with envoys from the five permanent members of the UN security council in February 2012. He said that during those discussions, the Russian ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, laid out a three-point plan, which included a proposal for Assad to cede power at some point after peace talks had started between the regime and the opposition.
But he said that the US, Britain and France were so convinced that the Syrian dictator was about to fall, they ignored the proposal.
“It was an opportunity lost in 2012,” Ahtisaari said in an interview.
I have been going through the various message boards on the Guardian, Slate, Globe & Mail, Yahoo, etc. The venom towards those fleeing unbearable conditions is quite appalling. (Not to mention the disgusting unadulterated hatred of Muslims.) It was the US-UK destruction of Iraq that directly led to the rise of ISIS. It is the NATO occupation of Afghanistan that fuels the fighting in AfPak. Libya is in tatters because NATO bombed the country and overthrew the regime. The US drone program pushes more and more despondent individuals towards radicalization, which in turn, further destabilizes the region. Every NATO member has a responsibility to settle refugees.
I am just wondering what other people think: what right did the United States have to place sanctions on Iran in the first place? Obama claims that it was this deal or war. Another poster advocated maintaining sanctions. Didn't Brazil and Turkey broker a deal with Iran in 2010? And didn't Obama reject that deal? The United States and the other nuclear powers who signed the NPT have never fulfilled Article VI, which calls for disarmament. Hell, they haven't even considered it. (Though Corbyn is advocating disarmament as part of his Labour leadership bid. And I believe there was a Democratic candidate in the early 80s who said they would not respond with nuclear weapons to a Soviet first strike.)
With respect to war mongering, I really do not think Obama is any position to criticize Republicans: increased troops in Afghanistan, increased drone attacks, led the push for UN SC Resolution 1973 that authorized military intervention in Libya (and then went beyond its scope with regime change). On Iraq, Obama spent 2011 trying to convince the Iraq Parliament to offer immunity for US troops so the United States could maintain a military presence. (And the troops did not achieve every mission they were given. Far from it.) And he drew a redline on Syria only to be saved by the Westminster opposition and coalition dissidents.
There were those of us on the extreme/radical/wacky left who observed Obama's Clintonian tendencies during the '08 primaries and early in his presidency. (Cockburn was critical from the start and Chomsky commented on his amoral nature shortly after his inauguration. Tariq Ali was initially excited, but quickly saw what a fraud Obama is.) We were, though, told by Dems and liberals and progressives to shut up and bugger off. Well, America is still a brutal empire and neoliberalism reigns supreme. And we have yet another Clinton to look forward to. Good times. Thanks libs and progs.
I am sorry but I do not consider volunteering to drop fire on Vietnamese peasants from a fighter jet heroic. That he was tortured is awful. But the United States destroyed Vietnam, ruining the lives of millions of people. And McCain has used his war hero status to intimidate others and compensate for his lack of ability. (While he may not be as lacking as Bush, he is still rather simple minded.) I have very little sympathy for him. (And let us not forget his support for the Iraq War, defense of Kissinger, claim that the surge worked, etc.)
I agree. I am currently visiting California and I have thoroughly enjoyed myself. I just wish the United States would leave the rest of us alone.
The United State is the sole superpower and the only state with global power projection capabilities. It has proven time and again that it will destroy societies. Acquiescing was in Iran’s best interests. It continues a horrible precedent but as long as we live in a world where America is willing to inflict suffering on populations, deals like this are to be celebrated.
I am not sure if Professor Cole wants us to get into this discussion on his message board, but I'll take the bait and let him decide. I will keep it short and say two things. First, I am not sure that the materialist and the theist are making the same assumptions, i.e. the only assumption the materialist is potentially making is that the universe is rationally intelligible. Second, the materialist is not invoking special pleading or shifting the burden of proof, i.e. God can accomplish the impossible, you cannot disprove God, etc.
"This worldview holds that nothing exists beyond what science can catalogue, prove, or deduce. It has never been proved to be true, yet it is never held up to examination by academics ."
Logical Positivism was an influential theory from about the 1920s to 1960s. It was critiques from academics that led to its demise. Some of its principles live on. (Those principles existed before the theory was formulated and are not exclusive to Logical Positivism.) Broadly, as it relates to religion and the proposition of an entity or reality/existence outside of space and time, i.e. known reality/existence, it begs the question, how do you determine the entities/realities/existences that exist outside of known reality/existence? Religion has never provided an answer to this question. And until it does the secular worldview remains the worldview that has the highest probability of providing an accurate description of reality/existence.
A couple of points to add:
- Based on comments from Cameron and Sarkozy, the FSA and Syrian rebels (the Syrian working class primarily) believed NATO would assist them in a fashion similar to that of Libya so they escalated there resistance. But because the euphoria over Libya was short lived and it became a complete disaster that assistance never came.
- In addition to intel and training, the United States was directly involved in providing the rebels arms bought in Eastern Europe, flown into Jordan, and then transported into Syria.
- The Islamic Front existed in name only – the frontline soldiers had no allegiance to each other. Furthermore, similar to the junior ranks of the Pakistani military not wanting to fight the Taliban under Musharraf, younger fighters within the rebel groups did not want to initially fight ISIS or al-Nusra but rather Assad’s forces.
- The FSA is incredibly incompetent: they consistently lost battles to Assad’s forces and to Hezbollah. And even when they defeated Hezbollah the resources expended made the gains worthless. Additionally, one of the primary reasons ISIS was able to gain a foothold in Syria was that they promised to provide law order when the FSA would not.
- It was only around the New Year when John Kerry and the State Department realized what a disaster the Syrian war had become. Saudi assurances (your good friend Prince Bandar principally) concerning al-Nusra and ISIS had not been realized and ISIS controlled a swath of land about the size of the UK. Since then the situation has become significantly worse.
- The US precondition that any agreement with Assad had to involve him giving up power meant that the Geneva talks were always doomed to fail.
I hope that the Americans are successful in rescuing the Yazidis. The world will thank those members of the US military and intel who take part. But please do not expect us to forget that the United States is an Imperial power and that the current suffering in Iraq/Syria/Kurdistan/ISIS “Caliphate” is a direct result of the American invasion and occupation of Iraq and the American support of the proxy war fought in Syria and American drone attacks in Pakistan, Yemen, et al.
I will repeat what I have said before: leave us - that is the overwhelming majority of the world – alone. We do not want your navy in our docks. We do not want your air force using our air fields and air space. We do not want your soldiers stationed in barracks in our towns and cities. We do not want your intel officers roaming our streets. We do not want your bombs falling on our families and friends. We do not want your modernity to be based on the exploitation of our natural resources and labour.
We would like a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation.
I agree. There is no justification for murdering children. It is not the children's fault that their parents support ethnic cleansing. And while I abhor all those who take part in military occupations, no parent should have to bury their child.
(I will concede though that I think Christopher was speaking more to power dynamics and the chickens coming home to roost.)
Four Americans die in an Embassy attack in Benghazi, Libya; President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton must be held accountable. Three-thousand Americans die in terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC; President Bush must be reelected.
President Obama and Hillary Clinton lied to Americans about the Benghazi Embassy attack for political reasons; President Obama and former Secretary of State Clinton must be held accountable. President Bush lied to Americans about Iraqi WMD and links to al-Qaeda to start a war; President Bush must be reelected.
These people are amazing. To paraphrase Heathcliff Huxtable: they are afraid that if they actually think, their brains may blow up and ooze out of their ears.
A great power decides to overthrow the government of Quebec in 2014 because it has a brutal dictator and WMD and supports the world’s most famous terrorist group – even though the great power formerly supported the brutal dictator and the province does not have WMD and does not support the world’s most famous terrorist group. Experts on the region – those with tenure and those on the tenure track are not consulted. The province is defined along sectarian lines – Francophone, Anglophone and First Nations. Francophones are given power. First Nations get autonomy. Anglophones are excluded. Montreal and Quebec City are razed to the ground. The entire infrastructure of the country is destroyed. There is no planning – the occupying force is breathtakingly incompetent. There is no water or power or health care or security. Law enforcement and Canadian forces are disbanded. Members of the Federalist parties are told they have no place in society, as are public sector workers. Criminal organizations – the various ethnic mafias and Hell’s Angels – take over neighborhoods. Foreign states support militias. Psychotic Anglophones from across Canada flood the province to defend their brethren. Local militias take on the occupying force. The leader of the occupying force declares victory. Prisoners are tortured and abused. Soldiers raid homes. Civil disobedience is met with force. Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec is attacked. A civil war breaks out. The civil war is ending; the Anglophones accept defeat. The leader of the largest militia declares a cease fire. The leader of the occupying force decides that the civil war, which is ending mind you, cannot continue and tasks the Chosen One with resolving the situation. A surge is ordered; troops are increased. The occupying force buys off some militias and hires others to form assassination squads. The Chosen One is declared a genius for ending the civil war. No reconciliation has occurred; Quebec is bitterly divided. 250 000 people have been killed. Anglophones have been ethnically cleansed. The media focuses on the loss of prestige and blood and treasure and blames Quebecers. After 8-years the occupying force leaves.
Does anyone believe that by the mid-2020s Quebec would be a functioning democracy?
Al-Qaeda has disassociated itself from ISIS. ISIS has been fighting Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria. This goes back to Al-Qaeda commands concerns about Zarqawi and AQIs behavior in Iraq. Much of ISIS are former AQI. The leader of ISIS, Abu Dua, lead AQI in 2010. They share a similar ideology but compete with each other for influence. Al-Qaeda views ISIS tactics as extreme. The LRB had a good review some months back concerning Al-Qaeda and the calibration of violence, i.e. not too much violence so as to turn off the local population but enough to make the government and potential supporters take them seriously.
I would like someone to explain why Thomas Friedman is taken seriously? Professor Cole?
So only the United States is allowed to advance its interest? Other countries cannot? Countries should align themselves with America and not China or Russia?
China and Russia are expanding their military technology due to US free trade with them? Really? Did Israel not try to provide high-end technology to China precisely because the US wouldn't provide it? And was Israel not chastised for this? China and Russia combined spend about 30-40% of what the US spends on their military. (It depends where you are getting the numbers from.) China cannot even make their own jet engine - they are reverse engineering old Soviets fighters.
What borders is China enhancing? It does have disputes with its neighbours, but it makes sense for China to allow these disputes to linger and solve them in the future as their power and influence will only increase. For its neighbours, Japan in particular, it makes sense to solve them now. Which is why Japan has been instigating the disputes. China's mistake has been responding aggressively - which is principally for domestic consumption anyways. As far as I can recall, China has not invaded and occupied countries.
With respect to Russia, what did you think would happen if NATO and the EU kept expanding eastwards? (Especially after it was agreed between Gorbachev and Baker & Bush that there would be no eastward expansion.) Would the United States accept a scenario in which Mexico and Cuba joined an economic and military alliance with Russia? Is anything that Russia has done in Crimea or South Ossetia (where Bush and Cheney were complicit) compare to what the United States has done in Afghanistan and Iraq? Shall we compare the number of dead? Injured? Refugees? Is Russia sending drones and destroying villages? Putin may be an autocrat and thug, but his bloodiest moments came in Chechnya, and the US completely backed him then.
Putin could do nothing as the US invaded Afghanistan and Iraq or as missiles were placed in Poland. The USS George Washington took part in military drills with South Korea; US fighters were within bombing distance of every major Chinese city; China could do nothing. Neither Russia nor China could stop the overthrow of Gaddafi.
China will have a huge worker problem by the mid-2020s due to the one-child policy. Additionally, the Communist Party has failed in increasing domestic consumer spending, as the savings rate hovers around 50%. 21st-century economies will centre around nano and bio technology and quantum computing - China lags sorely behind the US in these areas. Russia is a de facto rentier state whose economic outlook is very grim.
Where is this parity you claim coming from? The United States remains the only country with global power projection capabilities. And this will not change in the foreseeable future.
It is the United States who has tried to dominate the rest of the world. To claim, as you are, that the world will need protection by the United States from Russo-Chinese aggression is absurd. We would actually be quite relieved if the United States left us alone.
(I'm not in the mood to get into the straw man you presented in the first half of your posting, needless to say, you missed the point concerning American aggression and expansion. And no, not every state behaves in this manner. Regardless, you cannot abdicate responsibility for your behaviour by childishly pointing at others.)
In the run-up to the destruction of Iraq, the US/UK governments told the world that, in addition to WMDs, there was a link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, in some instances intimating that Saddam Hussein was involved on the September 11th attacks. The US/UK destroy the infrastructure of the country in a bombing campaign. There is no post-war planning. No electricity. No water. The army is disbanded. Complete chaos. (Apparently this is not the fault of the war leaders; rather “freedom’s untidy”.) The US military and private contractors commit abuses. Prisoners are tortured and sexually humiliated. Crowds of protestors come under fire. Sunnis are left out of the political process. The US/UK Iraqi leaders of choice are corrupt and incompetent. Unions are banned. Foreign fighters flood the country. Iraqis take up arms. Abu Dua, an Iraqi preacher, sets up a militia to resist the invaders. (Dua is later captured and spends 4-5 years as a US prisoner.) Sadr calls for an immediate withdrawal of US/UK forces and condemns the CPA. The Mahdi Army and Sunni rebels engage US/UK forces in Basra, Najaf, Ramadi, Fallujah, and other cities. Zarqawi and AQI engage in a terror campaign that causes pause even amongst Al-Qaeda command. Zarqawi is killed. The Golden Dome is bombed. A vicious civil war breaks out. The Shi’ites win. Iraqi cities are divided into fortified neighborhoods run by criminal syndicates. Sadr cannot even control his own fighters; they are told to stand down. Later they go on to engage in a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience. The Sunnis realize their mistake and are brought into the political fold; some militias are paid off; others join with the US to form assassination squads. No political reconciliation occurs. AQI is in decline; Abu Dua takes over. The date for withdrawal of US forces approaches; Obama attempts to gain immunity for US soldiers so that troops can remain. He is rebuffed. The Iraqi government cannot provide power or water or security. Iraqi security forces engage in torture and kidnappings. There is a paucity of health care professionals. The country is a mess. (9000+ die from terrorism in 2013. 2014 averages over 1000+ a month. But fear not Bush, Blair, Hitchens, Cohen et al will be vindicated by history.) AQI has evaporated. ISIS forms; led by Abu Dua. Al-Nusra forms. Both enter the Syria. Libyan fighters in Iraq return home and join the rebels opposing Qaddafi. (West Point study confirms that per capita the most foreign fighters in Iraq came from Libya.) NATO is authorized by the UN to implement a no-fly zone in Libya and ensure that no massacre of Libyan civilians takes place. NATO bombs Libya for 7 months. Qaddafi is killed. Libya is controlled by some 1500 militias. 240000 militiamen roam the streets of Tripoli and Benghazi; they are on the government payroll but are loyal to their commanders. NATO refuses to investigate civilian deaths as a result of their 7-month bombing campaign. US embassy in Benghazi is attacked. NATO disassociates itself completely from Libya. Libya stands on the brink of civil war. The Syrian Civil War escalates; Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia back Assad; Turkey, the Gulf dictatorships, and the US support the rebels – FSA, blue collar Syrians, and moderate Islamists. Al-Qaeda confirms Al-Nusra as its official affiliate and breaks ties with ISIS. The US assists the Gulf dictatorships in supplying arms to the moderate Islamists. Assad concentrates on the FSA and blue collar groups. The Islamists fight amongst each other. Sarin gas is used against Syrian civilians. The majority of intelligence agencies, experts, NGOs point to Assad’s forces. Obama concludes red line has been crossed. US intelligence leaks put into question Obama’s claim that Assad is to blame. Further leaks confirm that the Pentagon does not want to enter the Syrian conflict. David Cameron loses a motion in the British House of Commons authorizing the use of force against Assad’s regime. Russia convinces Assad to give op chemical stockpile. ISIS makes gains in Syria. The US expresses concerns that the Saudis, Bandar Bush in particular, have lost control of the situation in Syria. (This assumes they ever had control to begin with.) The FSA is a spent force. The moderate Islamist coalition – the Islamic Front – exists in name only. Arms meant for the Islamic Front end up in the hands of Al-Nusra and ISIS. ISIS controls a swath of land in Iraq and Syria the size of England. ISIS makes incredible gains in Iraq. The US considers re-entering the Iraqi arena.
At what point will Americans reign in control of their leaders and military? All this misery and death has been justified in your names (Joe Klein, a liberal mind you, claimed it’s either American babies or their babies) and using your money? Those of us who are secular, progressive Muslims (disclaimer: I am an atheist) are finding it incredibly difficult to stem the tide of anti-Americanism. We need your help. Even the Iraqi Communist Party supported the invasion partly because of what they saw as the impotence of the left to influence events in the West. (They opposed the principle. And they opposed Bush. But they accepted the reality of the invasion. And even then there was a split in the party. Hitchen’s always misrepresented their position.)
Even if one removes the moral component for a moment and examines this purely from the perspective of empire (or imperialism of hegemony or whatever): what are the power elite in the United States doing?
If I am not mistaken Kirkuk was/is a point of contention between Erbil and Baghdad? Will they return control of the city to Baghdad or attempt to absorb it into Kurdistan? How would al-Maliki and the Iraqi Parliament respond?
On another note, I have been perusing the comments sections of various news sites and the Iraq War supporters and anti-Muslim bigots are out in full force. Apparently the current crisis is the result of psychopaths and a fundamental flaw in the Muslim character; a wonderful gift was bequeathed to the Iraqi people but they preferred to slaughter each other because democracy and freedom and liberty are anathema to Muslims. Within this narrative the US/UK invasion and occupation, shock and awe, Abu Ghraib, the Battles of Fallujah, assassination squads, stoking sectarianism, disbanding the army, government corruption and incompetence, etc. have no relation to current events.
What is frightening about the 2nd map is that the potential Sunni state would be an arena in which Salafi Jihadi groups, the Gulf dictatorships, Iran, Turkey, and their respective global allies would vie for influence, i.e. infuse with cash and arms. It is unlikely that Turkey would allow a Kurdish state on their border or that Lebanon and Jordan would not see a massive influx of refugees. (Considering Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria, Lebanon would most likely also see increased fighting.) We should all be thankful that the men and women who advocated and oversaw the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq no longer retain power and influence and that President Obama has implemented a much more nuanced and humane policy…
I recall a discussion that took place at the Frontline Club earlier this year in which the panelists stated that we do not have a very good understanding concerning the composition of ISIL, Al-Nusra, the Islamic Front, and other parties engaged in Iraq and Syria. In particular, the feeling was that we are underestimating the number of local/regional members.
The disease has infected us in Canada. Last week a 24-year old, Justin Bourque, shot five RCMP officers in the Eastern Atlantic city of Moncton. Three were killed and the other two seriously injured. This of course was the work of a lone, deranged individual whose race, religion, and ethnicity are irrelevant.
When Justin commits a crime, it’s Justin’s fault; when Abdullah commits a crime, 1.5 billion Muslims bear responsibility…
Perhaps, if the GOP President at the time did not invade and occupy Afghanistan and Iraq, US soldiers would not be kidnapped?
"But it was because of a conflict in Gujarat, rather than an economic boom, that Modi gained his popularity among Hindu nationalists (Hindus are 80% of the population) and his notoriety among Muslims and secular liberals."
This is a very important point. In my conversations with many Hindu NRIs - I am Canadian - I have been told that: (1) my family should have left India after partition; (2) Modi had nothing to do with the Gujarat riots; (3) Modi knows how to deal with the "Muslim problem". The latter two remind of the scene from True Believer, when as part of their punishment for a hate-crime, a group of Neo-Nazis meet with Holocaust survivors. One of the young men claims that Hitler never killed any Jews. Ryan Gosling's character, a Jewish Neo-Nazi, responds (and I am paraphrasing here): “Then why do you like him so much?”
So you would agree then that the United States government could have interrogated American journalists returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? And that a gag order could be issued forbidding American newspapers from covering the story?