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US Wars: People vs Generals
While the Obama administration continues to affirm its intention to
withdraw US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the US' military presence
in the Muslim world is actually expanding and this is exacerbating
tensions and inflaming animosities.
Barack Obama's promise to
open a new page with the Muslim world on the basis of mutual respect and
interests -- supplemented and enforced by the use of soft rather
than hard power -- now rings hollow.
This is most evident in the
withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and the corresponding surge in
Afghanistan -- an exercise in redeploying military forces, not extracting
them.
As the gap between words and deeds; declarations and policies; public diplomacy and military strategy deepens, so the political and strategic crisis facing the Obama administration continues to deepen.
Enduring presence
There are
now more than 140,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan -- from the 100,000
Americans to the three Austrians -- in an estimated 400 bases.
But,
almost a decade after it invaded and a year after the adoption of a new
AfPak strategy, the escalation of fighting there serves to underline
the failure of the US to implement an effective counter-insurgency
strategy.
The complete military and political failure in
places such as Marjah, in Helmand province -- which was presented as a
prototype for future operations -- has further complicated the military mission in the country.
But
Robert Gates, the US secretary of defence, Admiral Mike Mullen, the
chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, and General David Petraeus, the
commander of US forces in Afghanistan, have been unequivocal in
insisting that their priority is to 'get the job done' -- which places a
big question mark over previous presidential commitments to draw troops
down by the end of next year.
The US generals are adamant and are lobbying their Nato allies to also expand their presence in the country.
And in Iraq ...
US and Iraqi generals
question the wisdom of a total US troop withdrawal by the end of next
year, with some like Lieutenant-General Babaker Zebari, going as far as
to speak of another decade of US deployment in the country.
Moreover,
the US state department's decision to hire and deploy a private army of
some 7,000 additional mercenaries in Iraq -- to add to the estimated
200,000 private contractors already deployed there and in Afghanistan,
is further militarising its diplomatic presence in the region.
As of next month, there will still be some 50,000 US soldiers in more than 100 military bases in Iraq.
As former US Colonel Andrew Bacevich, the author of an insightful new book called Washington Rules
and whose son was killed in Iraq, told EMPIRE: If it looks and sounds
like an occupation, the US presence in Iraq will still be just that.
The political paralysis in the country and recent escalation of violence aren't making matters any easier.
The wider region
A
new report show that the Obama administration is intensifying its
secret war and covert operations in the Muslim world, including
assassinations through the use of drones.
Much of this is being executed by the CIA, turning the intelligence agency into, in the words of The New York Times, a "paramilitary organisation".
Other
covert operations are being carried out by unaccountable private
contractors who are complicating US missions and rules of engagement.
Although
the covert operations are defended as less costly in terms of
"collateral damage" or human losses, their use comes in addition to, not
instead of, military operations -- or, in the words of the
'terrorismologists', using the "scalpel" in addition to, not instead of,
the "hammer".
According to the report, the CIA's operations
have been expanded in Algeria, Morocco, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Somalia,
Sudan, Kenya, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Yemen.
US military
attacks in Pakistan and Yemen have led some to warn that, just as George
Bush got America stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama might get the US
trapped in these two complex countries.
At a crossroads
Unfortunately,
despite its continuous and costly military fiascos, Washington persists
in using military power to impose its political will, resulting in
terrible human and political losses.
The US fiasco in Iraq and
Afghanistan has exposed the limits of the superpower's military capacity
to win wars, let alone hearts and minds, in faraway lands. Instead,
Western wars in Eastern lands have spread chaos and exposed its
weaknesses.
And yet, in addition to hundreds of military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, the US military continues to deploy its forces in more than 100,000 structures in over 700 bases in more than 100 countries around the world.
Indeed, for decades Washington has further redeployed, not withdrawn, its forces from the world.
Since the end of the World War II, and over the last six decades, the US fought three major wars -- Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.
It
is still deployed heavily between the Koreas, lost Vietnam and remains
an occupying power in Iraq two decades after it first attacked in 1991
and seven years after it invaded in 2003.
Some reckon Obama, a liberal who never served in the military, is worried about being seen as a wimp.
Others lament that he has been out-manoeuvred by powerful forces in Washington, including the Pentagon and its generals.
And yet others remain hopeful that he will prevail and eventually downsize the US military presence overseas.
Consider me a realist, but I doubt the empire will be downsized any time soon.
However,
the good news is that the majority of Americans today -- like the
absolute majority of the Greater Middle East -- would like to see the US
mind its own business and stop interfering militarily around the world.
Call
me an idealist, but I think in a democracy, it is the people and their
political representatives that have the last word, not the generals.
I guess a "readealist" (realist/idealist) reading of the US empire shows it's better to keep your expectations of its generals low, and your hopes regarding the people high.
This episode of Empire can be seen from Wednesday, August 25, at the following times GMT: Wednesday: 1900; Thursday: 0300, 1400; Friday: 0600; Saturday: 1900; Sunday: 0300.
- Posted in
46 Comments so far
Show All"Unfortunately, despite its continuous and costly military fiascos, Washington persists in using military power to impose its political will, resulting in terrible human and political losses."
"Call me an idealist, but I think in a democracy, it is the people and their political representatives that have the last word, not the generals."
what happens when the generals, and the people, and their political representatives fuse into a nation that eats/breathes war to sustain it's economy ?
call me an idealist, but i find it unrealistic to imagine democracy flourishing in such a nation.
- - - - - - - -
The five pillars of the U.S. military-industrial complex
By Rodrigue Tremblay - Online Journal Guest Writer 9/25/06
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_1241.shtml
{"In 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense employed 2,143,000 people, while it estimates that private defense contractors employ 3,600,000 workers, for a grand total of 5,743,000 defense-related American jobs, or 3.8 percent of the total labor force. In addition, there are close to 25 million veterans in the United States. Therefore, it is safe to say that more than 30 million Americans receive checks which originate directly or indirectly from the U. S. military budget. Assuming conservatively only two voting-age people per household, this translates into a block of some 60 million American voters who have a financial stake in the American military establishment. Thus the clear danger of a militarized society perpetuating itself politically."}
- - - - - - - -
...peace...
This is getting scary. No, this IS scary.
Eisenhower warned America. But due to the new science honed in the 1950s of advertising (aka persuasion, propaganda), the MIC gained steam for the past 50 YEARS.
The U.S. is at a point now where not being at war, not mass producing weapons would lead to a major economic depression and political instability since the MIC is spread throughout the 50 states. On the other hand, continuing to kill people in remote lands cannot continue, or to put it in terms that American politicians understand, it's not a sustainable business model.
We're either headed towards even darker days with constant escalating war and killing or a major re-alignment in American politics. I'm striving for the latter.
White people didn't voluntarily give up their slaves, men didn't voluntarily give up their monopoly on politics, and empires do not fall by themselves.
http://www.ryanhartman.wordpress.com
"empires do not fall by themselves."
Someone or something has to give a shove and gravity will do the rest. In our case, the someone is ourselves.
This article makes the stunning statement that there are "some 50,000 US soldiers in more than 100 military bases in Iraq." 100 military bases! How can any intelligent person as well as the major media not recognizing that this is the very definition of an occupied country?
The American artist and activist Lorraine Schneider [1925-1972] once noted that "War is not healthy for children and other living things." That accurate statement can also be inverted to point out that peace is not healthy for generals and other living things.
Iraqis and Afghans, Pakistanis and people from Yemen-resist American imperialism.
I think the author is mistaking the current disillusionment with an obviously failed policy with some kind of permanent turning against the empire. The American people have not suddenly given up on overseas slaughters but are merely expressing their impatience with this long drawn out affair. They will rally in great numbers to the next hyped up threat and be ready on short notice to invade and destroy whatever country is chosen by the neocon elites that run US foreign policy regardless of party. Americans still love war they just like the slaughters to be bigger and better each time.
Please read the above very carefully, for it is written by true idealist. An idealist being one with a frame of mind most perfect for perceiving the real world, as it transpires in real time and real space.
" . . . real time and real space."
That's something Obama has no acquaintance with whatsoever.
DEMOCRACY -- STATE OF THE ART SLAVERY
“Call me an idealist, but I think in a democracy,
it is the people and their political representatives
that have the last word.”
LIGHT
But, an idealist should never be an illusionist, for most naive and gullible is it to believe that people are basically good and a more powerful half would never gang together to enslave the weaker half.
Comes now democracy to be the most corrupt form of government ever created by the evil mind of High Society, with the 51% most aggressive and wealthy creating for the lower half of society a police state slavery, surely a minimum wage prison most unbearable.
Again with the 50% etc etc It was factually wrong when you said it under a different ID and it's, surprise, still wrong.
How many IDs do you have here?
Okay, Morticia: Nice work. Your observation here is keen.
The author makes the false assumption that Americans live in a functioning democracy.
The "wars" are actually going quite well for the elite. Oil is flowing, the MIC has never been happier and the average middle class taxpayer is footing the bill. This wouldn't be happening in a functioining democracy that elected governments to serve the public interest.
But before we can have “a functioning democracy that elect’s governments to serve the public interest,” we must first have a not-greedy majority willing to vote in the public interest.
So just get rid of the 51 percent and you will be a warm puppy.
Not so fast, John. A rather good case can be made for a true democracy in which each citizen votes his own self-interest, but the greater good serves the greater number because of the 50% + 1 rule. So we have two theories here.
In practice, they are not always disparate. It may be hard to discern where your self-interest lies, e.g. marriage for gays and you are straight, in which case you have little choice but to vote for the good of the society at large. Selflessness may be admirable, but it is not always necessary, nor do we have to be angels as some have alleged.
Even more important, a good system can't prevent mistakes, but it can facilitate correcting them. One of our real problems is the present system is just too damn slow for the pace of modern life.
The self interest debate like the selfishness debate is structured on the individual and it is not helpful. It is helpful to stand aside and see it as very Western and to see what and where the West consequently is.
Despite the amazing persistence and chauvinism of the West over centuries, the greater majority of the world has always lived as if each is an individual of those they live amongst. This world is not tribal or national or sectarian, it is of aggregate. This is a paradox, because the resultant often called 'collective' world is consequently dependent on the individuals and is therefore in radically dynamic flux; a Yin and Yang paradox. They reject the Western ethereal, purportedly timeless world of incrementally improving ideals or Law in favour of the earth they stand on every day. They see this world as muddy but as effective.
In this kind of society, relationship is primary and specific law or custom secondary. It is viewed as primitive and backward by the West, where in accordance with ideologies such as the Rule of Law, law is primary and relationship secondary; a sort of God in Heaven or monotheist place.
As to which is right or relevant, again look at the current infectious absurdity of the leader of the West, the USA.
Finally, this weakness has been understood by peoples in the world for thousands of years. Right now, those who see reality in this way are waiting for the Absolute, sectarian, law based delusions of the West so prominent over the last 3-500 yrs to pass away, while none have the delusion that it will not rise again. In many places this process is seen as a necessary childishness.
Barack Obama's promise to open a new page with the Muslim world on the basis of mutual respect and interests, now rings hollow. His promises always were hollow, but Barry is one of the best con men I have seen in my lifetime. Instead of selling out to the MIC and the warmongering Generals, He could con the MIC and the war mongering Generals, but of course, that would be very dangerous.
One would think that if Obama really meant it when he set a deadline for remobing troops from Aghanistan, he would treat Gates and Petreus the way he treated McCrystal. That would indicate that he is really in charge.
Anyone want to bet a dollar to a donut that he will do that?
No takers.
"Call me an idealist, but I think in a democracy, it is the people and their political representatives that have the last word, not the generals."
The problem with that statement is that the US isn't a democracy. In this oligarchy/plutocracy/kleptocracy/corporatocracy of a military fascist dictatorship, the generals AND our political (mis)representaives have the first word, the last word, and all the words in between. The invisible, inaudible, and mostly ignorant people have nothing to say about any of this. Or if we say anything we're not heard by either the politicians or the generals.
And how many times have we read this article over the past however many years, updated here and there to fit new developments? Tom Engelhardt has written it several dozen times. We're a corporatist/militarist empire, and Obama is totally dedicated to serving and maintaining it. No other considerations apply, least of all whether we're actually "winning" any of these criminal occupations. The more we keep losing every last one of them, the more our generals and politicians commit us more deeply to their futility. They have no other purpose. They're destroyers, and they aren't going to become anything else. We overthrow this network of criminals or we go on forever enslaved by their insanity.
EPHRAIM: I'm with you up till the final statement. Keep in mind that the inevitable collapse, brought on by economic implosion, environmental paroxysms of overkill, and an imperial policy that's turned the homeland into a growing wasteland may lend more (in the way of variables and causative factors) to your either-or equation than you currently imagine.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio... than dreamt of in your analysis."
So have I heard and do in part believe it.
Although the line is, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,/ Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." But if you mean this whole house of cards will fall of its own decrepit construction, one way or another, I couldn't agree more. Meanwhile, since we effectively do nothing to remove the bastards from power who are destroying us all, willy-nilly, with a hey-nonny-nonny-no, we are their passive subjects upon whom they relentlessly pour lies, scorn and abuse.
Ephraim, it's not that people aren't doing anything to remove the crooks from power. We're just outnumbered. I've been guilty too in the past for getting angry and then giving up and giving in on the last minute. I hope I can be one of those to get past that and possibly help as many people out there do the same. We may not be able to escape the coming Crumbling Era but we need to not only be able to withstand the storm but do our best to get as many people to wake up.
"...economic implosion, environmental paroxysms of overkill, and an imperial policy that's turned the homeland into a growing wasteland...."
Yes, just drive across the 'homeland' and you'll go through one dying town after another.....all because we spend every last dime for weaponry to blast away other cultures!!
This is a crumbling empire and a lost soul of a nation at large. I read a recent article by Chalmers Johnson, the same man who called for abolishing the CIA, and would like to quote his 10 steps that this country needs to take to dismantling the empire. The following article should be read along with this one.
http://www.alternet.org/world/147964?page=entire
I like Steps #5 and #8 the most. I will no longer be employed as of September 1 but will resist any temptations to work for any company related to the DOD. This might look formidable but I think I have a better chance and I hope we can get millions out there to break their dependence from MIC and hopefully shutdown this insane empire !
MAX: As an individual you formerly attacked in this forum, I would like to say that it appears that you have truly experienced a transformation in your thought processes and political sensibilities. This observation is based on the maturity and evolution of the quality of your posts. If you are sincere, than I wish you progress and I hope you can share your more enlightened understanding with those with whom you will soon work. You seem to have a knack for technology, so I wonder if you could get involved in something green and cutting edge? Good luck to you!
Thanks Sioux Rose for the warm reply. I want to apologize for my behavior last year in May when I got out of control. While I had been beyond television at that time, I didn't realize how less progressive I was. It was easy to get angry at everything and not calm down. I feel stupid for my behavior at that time but haven't given up sitting down and seeing what I missed. I enjoy doing more reading on the site but post now and then.
I also apologize for going overboard about hemp. If Sabocat and jclientelle are reading this, please accept my apologies for getting angry at you a while back. I know that not all biofuels are as bad as others but since we have to focus on curbing the carbon emissions, we will have to hold off on hemp and algae until long term plans can be put in place for using them for fuel and other industrial uses. I think I had better do more of what is available within local reach. I could also use meetup.com and other local get together sites to see how I can get people to take the Hampton Roads buses and see what can be done to improve the routing in my suburb.
There are plenty of ideas for going green on technology without having to resort to greenwashing. None of them are perfect and they all will have their ups and downs. That still doesn't mean that we should rule them out. I'll be reviewing my old programming techniques and see which abandoned programming practices of the past can help cut down CPU and/or memory usage so that we might hold off on burning the oil too soon for too much this and that on technology.
Finally, I want to say that whatever happens to the Internet, this site will not only survive but it will succeed. Since CD does not annoy users with corporate advertising or complicated disqus privacy-violating garbage unlike some other supposedly progressive sites, they burn less coal to deliver better loading of its site and are green IMHO. If CD runs on solar energy, they can safely use those panels because their servers' demand for energy is most likely much less than that of other supposedly progressive sites such as Alternet, Huffington Post, Daily Kos, etc...
Good luck to you too Sioux Rose and good luck CD. I'll be around and look forward to continuing to be graceful when giving my input. As always, I welcome corrections, advice, and suggestions too.
Max, I remember you from last year. I also want to apologize for my own misbehavior last year. I meant no harm to Sioux and am glad you and her were able to reconcile. I myself got into trouble for flaming everyone including her but I accepted my punishment and returned after a long time. I may be practical but we can't afford to ignore what people here are trying to warn us about. I think I'm more along the lines of bordering practical and progressive. I hope this site stay well too. Good luck in your new endeavors.
"Barack Obama's promise to open a new page with the Muslim world on the basis of mutual respect and interests -- supplemented and enforced by the use of soft rather than hard power -- now rings hollow."
That has to be the understatement of 2010 . . . and far into the diseased future.
Just Foreign Policy has some actions up
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/
Thanks for the link.
How could one not trust someone using the moniker 'Old Goat'?
Once upon a time the military carried out duties based on policy set forth by others. Now it tries to create/influence policy and market it to the public.
Progressive101
I agree as it is able to do this with the collusion and assistance of the corporate media and the executive branch of the government.
What is the point of talking and writing about this? How must we approach it?
This article is rational but we are not dealing with a rational thing. To write about the USA in this way is far sillier than asking a crocodile in the pond to allow the cows to drink the water.
But unlike a crocodile, which is a valuable even essential part in the balance of nature, the USA is a problem to its own and to the world. It is the biggest national economic entity in the history of mankind and it is as radically dishonest as the worst in mankind's history, to the degree that its humanity, its language is in disarray. Unlike Genghis Khan, it does not even have the balls to admit its overt pleasure in murder. Like a demented little boy it constantly tells itself fairy stories to defend its equanimity and send itself to sleep. Clearly and as amply illustrated by its use of military force in the name of ‘power’, it is the greatest threat in history to the future of mankind. And let us, at this time, dear brethren, not forget Jesus, the loving, human segment of the God of all, in the US front line.
!/?*&^%$£" !! And that is what I say to the USA. It is a depraved entity that needs to be eradicated. There is no reason for its existence.
More than a crocodile, the US is a compost heap, but one of the wrong culture and its stink is a world record. The US media is part of the problem in that like the vast majority of US citizens it is selfish, primarily wanting to make profit and ‘cleverly’ treating this radically dangerous human flaw in the USA as an opportunity to do so.
The solution lies in this recognition for then this mess can be seen as an asset. If this rotting lump of intellect could be used honestly it would be a most fecund asset for the world's future. Like compost, such a pit of rot has incredible wealth in an immediately accessible variety. But like compost it has to be turned, which means it must be split into smaller piles. The USA is too big to succeed.
The truth remains that US citizens are mired in an overly huge, inarticulate lump of frustrated, evil fecundity and are on the cusp of a toxic infamy that will stain their names, language, accent, land, skin colour, physical features, in truth their children, indelibly. In international company they already either blather loudly in self important groups , all surface, all image, or else they hide within, where as evidenced in occasional comments to articles in Common Dreams, they gather in defensive 'Marine' type clusters or bases shouting Rah! Rah! Rah! up the arsehole in front of them while giving others the aside, 'Well you have not been there while I have already killed hundreds in Vietnam before I have done the same in Afghanistan then Iraq and now again Afghanistan so I know more than you do while you are a nothing and what’s more I am a bloody Hero!'; literally, bloody, absurd, playground children, blindly and furiously intent on bringing the world down to their abysmal level.
It is increasingly obvious that the US people, as the US citizen, do not cut it. It is time for individuals and groups to deny their US citizenship and to work to break the steadily more repulsive, anaerobic US entity into small pieces. One thing is not negotiable: The core problem, the White House and Pentagon, must go. In this regard, it is interesting to see how it claims to be the answer as it leads deeper into stinking infamy. Common Dreams again occasionally shows us that other, more balanced, intelligent and capable understandings are in supply. Moreover, the Orient and Africa and South America loom and they cast an unmistakeable glow on the horizon. Many US citizens do see this clearly and while the somewhat uncomfortable, demented and frightened majority seek arms to kill the challenge many are already elsewhere everywhere, even as they are perhaps forced to live in the USA and shop at Walmart while they look to and plan towards a better future.
The Empire must be broken from within or, as it is presently so amply demonstrating it will make a useless, toxic stew of its citizens.
James Edwards,
"It is increasingly obvious that the US people, as the US citizen, do not cut it. It is time for individuals and groups to deny their US citizenship and to work to break the steadily more repulsive, anaerobic US entity into small pieces."
thank you for your candor and very astute observations.
i posted these quotes on another article yesterday, but they're just as relevant to this article and i suspect they will be relevant to many more articles in coming years (unfortunately).
our nation is burnt toast - there's little chance of turning back.
-------------
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/malcolm_x_ballot.html
The Ballot or the Bullet - April 3, 1964
Cleveland, Ohio
... I believe in action on all fronts by whatever means necessary.
...I just want to give you a little briefing on guerrilla warfare because, before you know it, before you know it. It takes heart to be a guerrilla warrior because you're on your own. In conventional warfare you have tanks and a whole lot of other people with you to back you up -- planes over your head and all that kind of stuff. But a guerrilla is on his own. All you have is a rifle, some sneakers and a bowl of rice, and that's all you need -- and a lot of heart.
... After our religious services are over, then as Muslims we become involved in political action, economic action and social and civic action. We become involved with anybody, any where, any time and in any manner that's designed to eliminate the evils, the political, economic and social evils that are afflicting the people of our community.
... No, I'm not an American. I'm one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I'm not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver -- no, not I. I'm speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don't see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.
-------------
in hopes that one day all of us can experience...
...peace...
Blackbird, this is kind to me but more importantly your quotes are an interesting response. It is relevant to state here that while I am not a black man, I have come to realise that I am an African and emphatically not a Westerner.
My country of origin was ruled by white people for centuries and steadily ruined by them as they enriched themselves. Debates raged amongst the whites with the liberals and the conservatives at each others throats. Despite the marked lack of beneficial national results, this was taken as an indication of the superiority of Western culture. Yet to an outsider, even one within the country, it was astonishing how they hated and distinguished between each other for they were clearly two sides of the same coin.
The country was eventually saved by the indigenous black people who could do it because they had the cultural sophistication and the majority that the whites lacked. But they did not do it without involving the whites, many of whom emotionally supported the process. It of course remains true that whites there still cannot stomach this present reality, assiduously use their control of the media, the economy and education to claim responsibility for all the benefits and blame blacks for all the difficulties. We have to live with fools.
Such as Malcom X as quoted was not part of a black majority as was the case in my country. He was also dealing with a monolithic white cultural facade and his anger is and was justified. I read his views with great interest. What is clear from my long peripheral but nonetheless intimate experience of a successful revolutionary process is that no solution is possible if only one sector of the community carries the responsibility exclusively. As Malcom X understood, the anger must and can be used to join people. Like the great leaders in my country he knew one can fight to join peoples not to divide them. In another longer life in a country that was not so radically both physically and intellectually violent, Malcom X may have been very successful. Its time white US citizens realised this.
James Edwards,
"What is clear from my long peripheral but nonetheless intimate experience
of a successful revolutionary process is that no solution is possible if
only one sector of the community carries the responsibility exclusively. As
Malcom X understood, the anger must and can be used to join people."
YES!!! - thank you for your response, and the story of your country of origin.
many have stated that in order to create social change, we have to accept
responsibility - and respond as individuals to the unfolding crises. there
are a myriad of different tactics that people can use to respond to a corrupt government.
they can attempt to harness the electoral process by electing politicians that reflect their views. they can petition their government by writing to their elected officials and expressing their views in public. the people also can join with others and assemble to express their discontent. the people can directly address their politicians in person and the people can use the court system to demand justice and accountability.
after the traditional democratic methods have failed, people will resort to civil
disobedience and direct action (including destroying property), this includes workers withholding their labor to protest injustice. once non violent peaceful resistance is squashed or drowned out by the MSM, revolutionary resistance - by necessity - becomes the last option. this seems especially true when people who have dedicated their lives to social justice begin to see the repression rain down on their colleagues or when they see how community efforts to create change or address crises are stifled.
{an recent example of this repression can be found at dem now this morning.
Friday, August 27, 2010
EXCLUSIVE...Zeitoun: How a Hero in New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina Was
Arrested, Labeled a Terrorist and Imprisoned
http://www.democracynow.org/ }
i respect malcolm X's message - that resistance isn't one dimensional.
for example: not everyone is capable of helping people on a fundamental physical level after a horrific natural disaster like katrina. however, when a person does step forward and help the community and is punished for that, the general public can help that person by contributing financial support to help the person fight for justice in court (civil suits) or the general public can apply pressure on the government by drawing attention to the injustice. people can facilitate social/political change on multiple levels these are all legitimate forms of participation - of resistance.
...continued...
...continued...
leadership is important, and that's why malcolm x, MLK, and fred hampton were killed. they were capable leaders and thus directly threatened the prevailing power structure.
the black panthers gained credibility in their neighborhoods by providing breakfast programs to children and by providing security (monitoring police brutality and intervening when necessary) to their communities. perhaps americans could attempt to disengage from USA (withholding taxes, refusing to pay debt, boycotting companies) while creating parallel local structures.
leaders will emerge under the proper conditions.
as corporate america eviscerates the working class (while continuing the wasteful destructive military project) - many americans are experiencing living conditions that they previously were unaware of, this includes witnessing the suffering of their friends and family. the capitulation of the democratic party to the corporate powers has stifled the opportunity to create effective social change via the electoral process. everyone at some point will have to determine to what degree they are committed to this change (anti-militarism, pro democratic values, ecological sustainability, community based economics).
i also am not an african american. but, if the american left wants to achieve its objectives - it may have to look at alternate forms of resistance and governance. although the situation in america is nowhere close to the squalid violent conditions experienced in occupied countries like in iraq, afghanistan or palestine (or historical examples like s vietnam or cuba), there is every indication that the empire is willing to use its violent tools of oppression against it's own population. malcolm and the panthers are historical american figures who experienced the oppression to such a degree, that they sacrificed their lives spreading their message.
those who resist the imperial project should examine the alternatives and their leaders (history), for they have insight and can inspire us. when resistance occurs in the future, as progressives we should be willing to support it whether we're on the front lines or feeding the poor in a soup kitchen.
as naomi klien notes when discussing subcomandante marcos .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcomandante_Marcos
{"Marcos, the quintessential anti-leader, insists that his black mask is a mirror, so that ‘Marcos is gay in San Francisco, black in South Africa, an Asian in Europe, a Chicano in San Ysidro, an anarchist in Spain, a Palestinian in Israel, a Mayan Indian in the streets of San Cristobal, a Jew in Germany, a Gypsy in Poland, a Mohawk in Quebec, a pacifist in Bosnia, a single woman on the Metro at 10 p.m., a peasant without land, a gang member in the slums, an unemployed worker, an unhappy student and, of course, a Zapatista in the mountains’. In other words, he is simply us: we are the leader we’ve been looking for."
—Naomi Klein, Socialist Register}
!ya basta!
w/ respect and
...peace...
Why can't the armies of the richest nations in the world win against militias made up of some of the poorest of the poor in the world? At home they can knock the sh** out of poor people who dare stand up against the government.
The final real withdrawal, and not this covert replacement of regular public troops by mercenaries, contractors, and local hired help, will occur when the perceived costs to the war generals and world power game players outwiegh their perceived benefits.
The costs are placed upon the occupied peoples, and apon the civilians of the USA. Until the costs actually impair the funding and prosecution of the war efforts and military base upkeep, there will be no withdrawal. Until the war costs produce civil breakdown and failure of government in the US, their appears to be no sign of failure of pushing the war efforts. The impending dismantling of social welfare is key milestone of the decline of this civilisation.
So perhaps another decade will see peak oil bite, climate change become irreversible, US dollar financial collapse, and have increased social disorder and food shortages affect the US. Since the US is by far draining the most expense per person involved in the wars, it follows that the opposition sides just have to never give up, even when apparently occupied and defeated. By keeping up the necessity for its massive war expenses, the giant can be worn down and killed. Eventually the barbarians from within will sack Washington, as they did Rome.
As long as the war prosecutors remain personally unaffected, and no doubt they are well paid for their crimes, they will continue bleed their own nation and its occupied countries.
For civil society and the logistics of support for war and empire to finally crack, perhaps we wait for the last great financial bubble of US dollar house of paper money to collapse, and this combined with expensive oil supplies may define a choice between food or war. Its only a matter of time. How many people of the US are willing to starve for the privilege of continued fighting in Eurasia?
Yes... like society, change happens not when we want it but when it has to happen.
Communication is more important than we think.... it is how we express spirit.
Are we hungry enough for peace yet?
Cheerios
I been thinkin, being an old rebel ROTC drop out, you know the military can be given a new mission to defend America by helping build a sustainable infrastructure for all the people.
That way nobody loses their job and everybody gets to be like FDR.
From Our Bloody Valentine
by David Michael Green
On the US invasion of Iraq:
"All wars are tragic. Most, by definition, entail the height of human stupidity. Many are rooted in the rudest lies of the grossest proportions. Iraq was among the worst of all wars for all these reasons. It was the most unnecessary conflagration imaginable, based on the biggest stack of lies – many overtly told, but just as many silently formed around the unspoken assumptions of conventional “wisdom” – ever told to a population, and one which absolutely should have known better.
Everything about this sick war was wrong from the start, which is precisely why it had to be sold as a wholesale marketing package of complete deceit. Indeed, it is why it had to be sold at all. If the war had really had anything whatsoever to do with national security, that never would have been necessary. It’s not like FDR had to recruit a bunch of advertising suits to swing public opinion behind American entry into World War II. The Bush scum (I choose my words carefully – I can think of few other terms appropriate for those who could cause such carnage, on the basis of lies, for their own self-interested political purposes) understood this thoroughly, which is why they also understood that lies, intimidation, insulation of the public from the costs of the war, and false urgency were critical to their malevolent enterprise. They employed all of these and more, in spades. If the product of their campaign hadn’t been so utterly lethal, we might even admire them for their amazing capacity to pull off a scam this stunning in its proportions."
Generals are there to do a job for the people. The generals shouldn't be telling us what to do. They should not decide war but follow orders. The people and the Congress decide that.
One candidate for the Senate from Florida said he accepted the generals opinion for Afghanistan, etc. Shouldn't he know not the general?
A general always wants a war. Most want to win not just drag it on and on. The experienced generals are long gone since Bush. Most retired or were fired...resigned.