down is the new up

Bob Dylan wrote wrote a song about the masters of war. It's sentiment is harsh and uncompromising. It makes me ponder whether hatred is sometimes an appropriate response to the blithe hypocrisy of war profiteers and their enablers. The song ends:

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

Anyone who can possibly say that "banning cluster bombs would hurt world security and endanger U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work" should be considered criminally incompetent.

I want to hear the rationale for the use of cluster bombs in any circumstance. What function do they perform and how does their use advance the quest for peace and understanding among peoples? What do the purported candidates for the office of POTUSA have to say about this?

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation
peace,
st john

Maybe we put a cluster bomb up smug guys ass.

SAY WHAT?!!!

I should hope that more nations refuse to accept any 'aid' from the usa. Given the performance the us gov't has demonstrated in 'helping' the people of Iraq I'd be very surprised if more countries didn't refuse any future aid from the states. I'm not saying that the people of the usa are not compassionate, it's the gov't that has issues in delivering anything that a reasonable human being could recognise as compassionate.

Perhaps STEPHEN MULL is considering the profit motive? What is more important?

Where do the neo-cons find these people?

Yet another disgusting example of the US government´s guiding principle ("spreading freedom and democracy" in Orwellian parlance) in foreign policy:

YOU ARE FREE TO DO WHAT WE WANT

To bully other states not to ratify this important treaty and link it with (refusal of) humanitarian assistance is really mean and proves that the Rev. Wright was rightly denouncing US policies and the hypocriticial self-delusion of America`s role in the world.

Remember "Why do they hate us?" after 9/11?

This is exactly why: the world is fed up (not just the Muslims) with being bullied by and trampled on by "US interests", whether in the form of "trade agreements", "pre-emptive wars", the undermining of treaties for a better world (ban on land-mines, ban on bio-weapons, ban on child-labour / acknowledging the rights of children, the Kyoto Protocol,etc.), transgenic patented plants, or other forms of criminal behaviour...

My god, why did Columbus sail in the wrong direction? Why has US-capitalism and market rule evolved like a cancer on this planet? Why do the American people not fight against this inhumane and destructive system?

Perhaps some answers are to be found in this book:

http://www.alternet.org/democracy/85728/?page=entire
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8606.html

Why does the US have to "rely" on these weapons ? We don't have enough deadly junk ? If we signed it, any country who needs our help in the future would be highly motivated to stop using cluster bombs, too.

That smirking goon is the face of American depravity. Americans, please rejoin the rest of humanity upon this earth! I have no great expectations of Barack Obama but if he can help Americans in this quest, help them avoid being the most hated people on this planet, he would be a successful president.

"Anyone who can possibly say that "banning cluster bombs would hurt world security and endanger U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work"

George Orwell was a true prophet.

From his self-righteous, whippersnapper smile we can tell Mr. Mull is in another galaxy!
Easy does it!

America is a militaristic empire why should any one with this administration expect anything different?

Many people here in the USA think to give their vote in the upcoming election to someone who they think represents the absolute truth, maybe Nader? To do that would at the same time elect by default the very same regime that has brought America to this present. After all and under scrutiny this is not a democracy, and the "truth" as presented has more than a few deficiencies.

I have followed patiently the dreamers, the pseudo intellectuals, and the great scholars, on the pages of many blogs, periodicals, and media who think they have the sort of thinking able to help bring the USA back from the horrid mess it has become. There are those, like so many who write, who like me have seen through the sham and the shame of the present global dilemma. Many in these tomes offer their great thinking to help us to see more clearly, good Liberal egalitarian ideas, that might help our situation if adopted and I hope seen by others.

Few here have touched the central issues, this countries greed, the economy and your 401ks. You have been sold this scheme so you could be good Americans and invest in the scam of Wall Street. By so doing you all have become part of this bogus system of economics that continues a way of life that will undo the world civilization, built on the layers of blood of countless generations. This form of economics- which panders to the worst human values- It is equal to one investing in a gambling house, but you have been led to believe it is your way to survival rather than the world's doom. Greed is a very difficult motivation personified by the "killer capitalism" of the USA and fans the seeds of greed, an acquisitive human characteristic that holds nothing or no one sacred, as of course some of you know.

The essence of the fight for human retrieval of hope and security, and the reestablishment of ethics, morals and purpose - so many write about - and who are disgusted with the American system fast becoming the global system - who would like to see change regardless of how questionable or what the downside might be. It is the reason people spend their time on blogs reading petty responses to the huge problems we face. Responses grounded in the rubbish the leaders of this sorry mess of an empire have indoctrinated their people to believe. This empire fueled by an auto-centered culture supported by the advertising indoctrination machine that supports the bogus media.

Those who respond to the articles on blogs, written by people who are surely less than the quality of the true thinkers like, Nietzsche, Camus, Dostoevsky and so many others who have written about human fallibility, the human condition and the abuse of power in America and the West. One of the best amongst them in the modern era is Noam Chomsky, a great American scholar and a champion of truth, who articulated the USA and its power lust for empire in his book "Hegemony or Survival.

Those who write, are people generally frustrated, those who feel helpless in terms of where we see this entire human global adventure going and see clearly that the present American election possibly holds the seeds to genuine change in the USA if not the world should it really should occur? In view of rapid change and absolute necessity in the USA for global survival we have to look at the so-called democratic process. The comparison between the facile political landscape as presented in media and look at this abomination called reality. Power is a strange issue, it can be best represented by its two possibilities, Power to and power "over" as represented by the present US administration. The power to "create" as represented by Obama's rhetoric is the hope of half of the USA. Yes, there are many political power brokers that hold the keys to Obama's success and we must accept the compromise of the imperfect but it is the best there is at this critical time. At the very least he has invigorated Democracy and interest in this failed Democratic, extreme capitalist experiment.

However, many are not fooled by the array of candidates and their claims to complete truth and fairness, this is, as it should be. A healthy pessimism is necessary so long as it is not cynicism. Some of us understand that survival is surely not based in the petty politics practiced on the media, or on-line which is a mirror of the American people and clone of the US Congress. However, many truly care and see clearly why the USA has morphed into a right wing crazed oligarchy. Many people writing her genuinely care about this superpower gone amuck, called the USA. Most of the world's people polled think the USA should be feared as a rogue state. Moreover, there are people in government who are genuinely worried about the extreme of American plutocracy on the world stage.

Sadly, many of us know the slate of candidates running leaves a great deal to be desired. Yes, they have all dissembled, as politicians are wont to do, in the endless necessity for compromise, even to achieve small things for the people. One cannot come from the masses in the USA, be a politician who aspires to become president of this woebegone culture and not have to assume the sickening compromises that would attract support to continue on the quest to accomplish change. It is impossible to be pure but it is possible to hold new truths close to ones fundamental belief system until possible to employ those ideas and idealistic visions of a better world. When people rally behind the leader who becomes transparent in office it is possible for the people begin to believe the leadership of a visionary. America believed in the JFK speech that accomplished the moon landing!

I believe Obama's hope and vision is to restore the USA to its former respected place in the world in a new way. One can see how it is veiled in his rhetoric but it is there. We can only hope that he is not murdered using some obscure assassin. When I think of the charge against Obama that he supported that toad, Joe Lieberman or the many obfuscations, of Clinton and McCain to paint him "black" I have to laugh at the simplistic charges and the lack of understanding of what is necessary to be a politician in the USA.

But there are some who hold out the small hope that if Obama, the least of all the evils presented to the electorate, somehow becomes president he may become another great man in the office and in effect serve the people, the country and the globe. He is the only one, in my view, who holds that possibility, without question, if we join and accept some of the thinking written on the pages of common dreams and other liberal blogs, many agree with this idea. It is so because of his background, his actions in Chicago, despite his missteps, and the fact that this is the final chance at survival for the human family!

We must take this chance and hope that the creeping filth of corporate power in collusion with government and media that has brought humanity to this pass will not assassinate him; if he truly tries to affect the changes that must take place in America and the world, for make no mistake about it: survival is at stake.

Yes, many nations look to different nations and models other than the USA in this for leadership and assistance turning their back on the US and the rejection of the Bush regime. The USA can take on a new challenge, with a new leader, a new vision with a country and a congress that supports him! I believe Obama can assume a place in the world as one of the leaders of the world- rather than, the lone, dogmatic, power driven capitalistic - globalized monster eating everything in its path for it own advantage. I believe that Obama, in recognizing the state of this world, seen with the idealistic vision he espouses, is able to help the USA join with other nations in the world, not as the sole leaders but one as one of its important contributors. The USA is a technological giant it is time to use its strength to assist the world, as it once did, not only for its GDP but also the truth of its responsibility and concern for the problems humanity confronts.

Now, as never before, to the present degree, a great leader and vision is required to help draw the world back from the nightmare now taking place. The climate, energy, food, water, the oceans, forests, human health, world poverty and so many other issues will require a man that has the youth and the guts to try to bring about the change in the USA needed for the future generations who see his vision. Change is fundamental to his campaign alone, since he has captured the belief of so many whom once believed it to be impossible. However, in the end it all may be too late!

Breathtaking in it's twisted logic! A new low for this admin. Again.
Instead of leading the way in the world towards more humane and peaceful solutions to conflict, we protect the status quo and insure the profits being made from these munitions are safe.
Anybody ready to take to the streets yet?

I have only one thing to say to this nincompoop.....huh?

FORGIVENESS

yeah, sideways!!!.........

KEM PATRICK

under a rock............

Finally , an admission that the best of healers is a 500 pound bomb.

This Orwellian Bush Administration must really consider the American public marshmellow brains since they lie with impunity again and again and again and yet they're still holding office...unfortunately the rest of the World sees straight through the evil and would blame the American people if they too didn't think the majority of American people are just plain brainwashed and manipulated... if it weren't for the hope of an Obama presidency I would clearly be ashamed of this country and the majority of the people in it!!

....this is just plain ridiculous.

The reason Mr. Mull's s#@t eating grin is with a closed mouth is so we can't see his forked tongue.

Let's go to Washington DC with bright colored bacce ball sized orbs scatter them around everywhere.

And in every tourist place have information about cluster bombs and the death, maiming, misery and societal harm they reap.

All these scum should be forced to walk through mine fields.

Obscenity from the mouths of people who transport horror and death to civilians (particularly children) all over the World.
Perhaps if and when all these evil people are arrested, it would be a good idea to rent a large sports stadium, tie them all to stakes, and then get an F15 to drop a couple of "smart" cluster bombs in the middle. They would then get to experience the "humanitarian" aspect of the cluster bomb at close range. Maybe if any of the cruel bastards survive, you could then blindfold them, and ask them to carefully make their way out of the stadium.
If any of this seems a bit shocking, then I would suggest that this is nothing, compared to the suffering going on in countries where these munitions have been used.

You can learn more about this snake here:

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/78650.htm

And read his complete statement here:

http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/rm/105111.htm

Couldn't find any direct contact info to give him a piece of my mind. Maybe someone else can.

unlike condi, this guy just can't keep a straight face when delivering his lines. he probably should be given a job that doesn't require salesmanship skills.

Thanks for the link, cactuspie.

You're right. His full statement is even smarmier than this edited chunk. Gag city!

I'm surprised he didn't give Depleted Uranium dust a positive spin as well - calling it 'the fertilizer for the future' or some other neocon spin label.

Might be a good trade off. Think what it would do to the American economy if no aid organizations were bringing those donated dollars to US product manufacturers to buy supplies? The US makes money off aid shipments also. Might be the way to go, no more cluster bombs or we don't buy aid materials from you anymore.

We have no further need to Mull over this issue.

The logic is crystal clear: if the US and its equally-depraved cluster-bomb lovin' allies aren't permitted to perpetuate the dissemination of bomblets to maim and kill the innocent, there will be no constituency of victims for humanitarian organizations to assist.

So if you think about it, cluster bombs aren't really part of the problem-- they're part of the solution!

And if you'll pardon a final Mulled whine: this criminal maladministration may one day be commemorated in a Vietnam War Memorial-sized Wall of Shame, featuring photographs of the entire pathologically twisted chain of fools-- er, I mean "command"-- from top to bottom-feeders, entitled "The Banality of Evil".

Stephen Mull - another war criminal who is 'just doing his work'.

What have we become?

You're all forgetting: this is the US Administration -- it doesn't have to make sense, it just has to make money.

Mull is the poster boy for the s-eating grin.

George Orwell is no longer rolling in his grave; he's climbing out saying, "I gotta see this!"

Makes me want to cry. The entire world looks upon us US citizenry as idiots. I hate to be included in that bunch. If I could afford it, I'd get the hell out of this country. There is no earthly reason for cluster bombs, DU or anything bigger than a bullet. Why do we drop 500 lb. bombs on individual houses in Iraq and Afghanistan other than to kill children so they do not grow up to be rebels against the US occupations?

Are you ready to rumbellllll? And our next president is >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Johnnnnnnn, McCainnnnnnnnn. ___ Lord help us.

Maybe they find them under a rock in the bottom of a cess pool ~COCO~.

the US and humnanitarianism? April Fools day is over!

Once again we see how behind the humnitarian facade, the US is really a military state. How can the empires allies not feel a little embarrassed!

U.S. military cooperation on humanitarian work involves bombing civilian populations, sanctions and starvation, eviction without compensation, shooting up the local people with mercenaries. poisoning with herbicides and depleted Uranium. The cluster bombs still litter Lebanon and other places, for no good reason. The US of Technological Terror does the devils work. People suffer consequences for decades and generations where ever they have been let loose. So what little real cooperation is there to loose.

So if this is the fruits of co-operation, what will non-cooperation be like? For sure, removal of US influence would be a positive anywhere in the world. Watch out US and associated scumbag military allies, non-cooperation can work both ways.

What a giant Load of BushShi*.

I guess having C-130s as gunships putting a piece of lead in every square foot in a football field, able to stay aloft for over a half an hour isn't deadly enough.

Let's use these spokespersons and cheerleaders as human mine detectors- then they'd be of some use to humanity.

Distopia claims that utopian values are nonsense.

Actually ~Bill~ it's more like eight hours and the newer J and N model C-130 Spectre gunships are pressurized and have inflight refueling capability, they can loiter over an area as long as the crew is capable.

While I have no use for GW Bush , this more a sympton of American Militarism then it is of GW Bush Militarism. The US did not refrain from using Agent Orange and or cluster munitions in Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia. They remain the only country that dropped nuclear weapons on another, said weapons killing mostly Civilians.

Would policy really change were a Clinton in charge? A Johnson or a Truman? An Andrew Jackson or a McKinley?

Well, I'm not surprised that they got this guy to come up with some sort of rationale as to why cluster bombs are okay, but I'm totally amazed at the rationale that he came up with.

I sure as heck hope Hillary "I refuse to ban cluster bombs" Clinton doesn't run as Obama's vice-president.

His smarmy smile reflects his contempt. He'll sell us the Brooklyn Bridge and we'll buy it--and he knows it. it doesn't have to be rational, it just has to be said with authority. He did that. A lie told convincingly and repeatedly becomes the new truth...

The talk about restricting the assistance of nature ravaged countries if cluster bombs are banned.........ask the people of New Orleans about assistance after Katrina!

"Cluster Bomb Ban Could Hurt 'Cooperation' and 'Humanitarian Work'"

Hi hi hi hi ....
or should I say
ha ha ha ha ....

This calls for poetic justice...perhaps a few cluster bombs scattered in the yards of all who oppose the ban and then send the kiddies out to play. Anyone who buys into this backassed logic is certifibly insane, but then the lunitics have been running rampant in our government for years. I do not think we have anyone running for president who will break the mold as it has taken root and will not disappear with new blood. This one instance takes the prize for total inconceiveable ignorance, stupidity and self imposed lack of conscience. Pathetic that these slime balls have the nerve to profess knowledge, but lack the understanding of the results of their decisions.

"In effect would make it impossible for the United States or any of our other allies WHO RELY ON THESE WEAPONS to participate in these humanitarian exercises." Hey, HERE's an idea!! Let's cease to rely on them so that we can embark on humanitarian aid rather than arms sales! (Whoops, forgot the Coolidge dictum that the business of America is business.)

Has anybody here seen anyplace a rationale for the use of
cluster bombs eminating from our government? The Israeli use in the recent
Lebanon thing was openly stated: to target, indiscriminantly, those in southern Lebanon who MIGHT BE Hezbollah sympathizers. In weighing whether the use of such weapons be prudent, the operative word here is "indiscriminant." This is, explicitly, the agenda of terrorists. What could the words "rely on these weapons" possibly be referring to specifically? Can this be nothing more than simple profit motive? We have a big industry, lots of Bad People buy these things from us, we make money, and "Where the rockets come down is not my department, says Werner Von Braun" in the memorable lyrics from Tom Lehrer. I find such a sentiment really not too far removed from the Nazi defense of the Endlosung: must be practical, got lots of people to smoke, this is the most efficient way to do it. [But we are never to enter a discussion as to the propriety in the performance of "it".]

Maybe 1,000 people should make the effort to look up this guy's contact information and let him know we think he's a monster.

It is difficult to resist pressure like that, at the very least it may make him sweat. Remind him that one day perhaps we might actually have justice and folks like him will end up in the Hague. :)

He'll probably get a promotion for saying that; I hope he thinks it worth it.

I am about as non-violent and non-confrontationalist as you get, but he would never be smiling that stupid grin again if I got to him first. First, he needs certain pieces cut off him to make sure he doesn't breed. Then take him to The Hague.