State of the Union

Na zoveel jaren geweld van de Bush-regering is de vraag wat 's werelds machtigste organisatie van plan is de komende tijd te gaan doen. Tom Engelhardt schrijft aan de vooravond van de presidentiele troonrede: 'The State of Disunion. Gorilla Empire? This Tuesday, the presidential State of the Union Address rolls around yet again. Only four Januaries have passed since the President used a State of the Union Address to brand Iran, Iraq, and North Korea -- the first two then bitter enemies, the third completely unrelated to either of them and on the other side of the planet -- as a World-War-II-style "axis of evil." It was the first great State of Disunion deception of the Bush administration's regal reign or error. Only three Januaries ago came the second. The President stood before Congress and pronounced those sixteen little words on his bum's rush to war with Iraq: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." How time flies. Now, thanks to the decision to terrify and manipulate Congress and the American people into this administration's much desired, unprovoked invasion of Iraq (and everything that followed from it), almost two-thirds of that "axis of evil" -- Iran and southern Iraq as well as the newly elected government in Baghdad's Green Zone -- have become something like an "axis" of two democratically elected, theocratic Shiite powers; while the third member of that putative axis is now a genuine, no-holds-barred nuclear "axis" of one. In the meantime, those sixteen words morphed into another kind of administration catastrophe -- the Joseph Wilson op-ed on Saddam's missing Niger uranium; the conspiracy inside the administration to smear Wilson; the outing of his CIA agent/wife, Valerie Plame; the coming into being of the Plame case; and the appointment of a dogged prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, as Special Couns! el to investigate an administration which prided itself on controlling everything in its path but couldn't, in the end, control the career officials in the Justice Department who managed to make the appointment. Now, sixteen words, so many secret meetings, leaks, smears, lies, obfuscations, obstructions, baroque press briefings, and plots later, Fitzgerald works doggedly in the wings, the bureaucracy's avenging angel in its war with this administration. Having lopped off the Vice President's good right arm, I. Lewis ("Scooter") Libby, Fitzgerald seems to be preparing to take out the President's "brain," Karl Rove and then check the landscape for other candidates. Now, here we are, at the President's fifth State of the Union Address. Last year, of course, he brought forward his -- lucky for us all -- DOA social security overhaul. "Fixing" social security was what he called it, but putting in the fix on that classic safety-net program might better have caught the spirit of the moment -- or, if you want to get the full picture, just imagine the hurricane Katrina rescue effort applied to the world of retirement. This year, Richard W. Stevenson of the New York Times writes, the President will focus on health care (hold your hats), spending restraint (every speech needs a laugh line), illegal immigration, and "the nation's international economic competitiveness" (okay, two laugh lines).' Lees verder: http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=54078

Klimaatverandering 16

Na jarenlang er nauwelijks tot geen serieuze aandacht aan te hebben besteed, ontdekt - na CNN - nu ook de Washington Post dat er een klimaatverandering gaande is met verregaande consequenties voor de mensheid: 'Debate on Climate Shifts to Issue of Irreparable Change. Some Experts on Global Warming Foresee 'Tipping Point' When It Is Too Late to Act. Now that most scientists agree human activity is causing Earth to warm, the central debate has shifted to whether climate change is progressing so rapidly that, within decades, humans may be helpless to slow or reverse the trend. This "tipping point" scenario has begun to consume many prominent researchers in the United States and abroad, because the answer could determine how drastically countries need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years. While scientists remain uncertain when such a point might occur, many say it is urgent that policymakers cut global carbon dioxide emissions in half over the next 50 years or risk the triggering of changes that would be irreversible.' Lees verder: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/28/AR2006012801021.html?referrer=email&referrer=email Nu de Nederlandse commerciele massamedia nog. Na meer dan dertig jaar ervaring in de Nederlandse journalistiek voorspel ik blind dat ze binnenkort schaamteloos weer aandacht aan het milieu zullen besteden, in navolging van hun grote broer Amerika. En dan zal ook het opportunistische GroenLinks het milieu weer hoog op hun agenda zetten. In het 'kiezersonderzoek' dat ze de VPRO-Gids lezers zonden, stond het trendy 'integratie minderheden' bovenaan gevolgd door onder andere 'internationaal veiligheidsbeleid' en 'veiligheid op straat' en pas ergens na het midden verscheen 'natuur en milieu' als thema die voor de kiezer het meest belangrijk zou kunnen zijn. Zie ook: http://stanvanhoucke.blogspot.com/2006/01/klimaatverandering-11.html

Het failliete Amerika 7

De reden dat de NAVO nu de oorlog in het Midden Oosten zal moeten overnemen is dat de Verenigde Staten economisch en militair failliet is.Yahoo News bericht: 'Study: Army Stretched to Breaking Point. WASHINGTON - Stretched by frequent troop rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army has become a "thin green line" that could snap unless relief comes soon, according to a study for the Pentagon. Andrew Krepinevich, a retired Army officer who wrote the report under a Pentagon contract, concluded that the Army cannot sustain the pace of troop deployments to Iraq long enough to break the back of the insurgency. He also suggested that the Pentagon's decision, announced in December, to begin reducing the force in Iraq this year was driven in part by a realization that the Army was overextended. As evidence, Krepinevich points to the Army's 2005 recruiting slump — missing its recruiting goal for the first time since 1999 — and its decision to offer much bigger enlistment bonuses and other incentives. "You really begin to wonder just how much stress and strain there is on the Army, how much longer it can continue," he said in an interview. He added that the Army is still a highly effective fighting force and is implementing a plan that will expand the number of combat brigades available for rotations to Iraq and Afghanistan.The 136-page report represents a more sobering picture of the Army's condition than military officials offer in public. While not released publicly, a copy of the report was provided in response to an Associated Press inquiry.' Lees verder: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060124/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/army_breaking_point Of:
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012506A.shtml

Iran 9

Al Jazeera bericht: 'Iran to fire missiles if attacked Iran will launch medium-range missiles if attacked, a military leader said, accusing Britain and the United States of arming rebels as international pressure mounts on Tehran over its nuclear plans. Yahya Rahim Safavi, commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guard, told state television on Saturday: "If we come under a military attack, we will respond with our very effective missile defence." Western states suspect Iran of secretly aiming to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear facilities are intended to produce only electricity. The United States and Israel have said they will prefer to solve the stand-off through diplomacy but have not ruled out a military strike. Military experts reckon the Revolutionary Guard's Shahab-3 missiles have a range of 2000km, meaning Israel, US bases in the Gulf and foreign troops in Iraq lie within their range.' Lees verder: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/883BC2D7-C21B-4F93-96E6-2EE162FD2B8E.htm

Stop the War!

Weer een getraumatiseerde generatie die een oorlog voor de rijken uitvocht. 'When you are used up, where do you go soldier?' zingt Robert Cray. De video-opname van deze song kunt u hier bekijken: http://afsc.org/iraq/cray/video-wmv.htm Ondertussen bericht Yahoo News: 'Iraq war leaves mental scars for civilians, US troops alike. Iraq war is reaping a fierce psychological toll, exposing a mental health crisis inside Iraq, and searing hundreds of thousands of US troops with combat trauma, experts warned… a wide variety of ailments can be expected in a nation stifled by decades of tyranny, foreign occupation and three years of post-Saddam violence.
"It is a very easy for a lot of people to lose hope with ongoing violence and ongoing intimidation. Iraqi citizens were also devalued and targeted by the Iraqi regime," said Dr Husam Alathari, medical director of the INOVA Center for Addiction Treatment Services and a consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. US soldiers returning home from tours in Iraq, meanwhile are initially showing a higher incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) than in other American conflicts. Around 317,000 veterans who received a primary or secondary diagnosis of PTSD were treated at medical centers run by the US Department of Veterans Affairs in 2005.
Around a third have had a subsequent diagnosis of a mental health disorder, said Dr Antonette Zeiss, the department's Deputy Chief Consultant for Mental Health. "It is higher than initial rates in previous wars," said Zeiss, adding that part of the rise may be due to a vigorous effort by the department to find out what help veterans' need. There are more women veterans from the Iraq war -- around 13 percent -- than in other conflicts, reflecting the need for more research into PTSD. Veterans are also typically older, with many from reserve and National Guard units, rather than the young, conscript soldiers in their teens and early 20s who fought the Vietnam War. Many veterans, who would have died from their wounds in earlier conflicts, survived through speedy access to medical treatment -- but are coming home maimed in body and mind, prompting new mental disorders, Zeiss said.' Lees verder:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060127/hl_afp/usiraqwarhealth_060127192100 Zie voor verzet tegen de oorlog ook: http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/archives/dispatches/000354.php

Robert Fisk 5

De expansionistische politiek van de democratische staat Israel en de terreur van de bezetting hebben Hamas aan de macht gebracht. Zo werkt een democratie. De ene democratie sanctioneert het veroveren van andermans land, de andere democratie verzet zich daar tegen, uiteindelijk met wapens. Dat is allemaal niet wonderlijk. Het enige wonderlijke is dat Westerse opiniemakers zich daarover verwonderen. Maar dit terzijde. De vraag is: hoe nu verder? Information Clearing House heeft een artikel uit de Independent van Robert Fisk overgenomen. De Midden-Oosten correspondent schrijft: 'The problem with democracy. And now, horror of horrors, the Palestinians have elected the wrong party to power. -- -- Oh no, not more democracy again! Didn't we award this to those Algerians in 1990? And didn't they reward us with that nice gift of an Islamist government - and then they so benevolently cancelled the second round of elections? Thank goodness for that!True, the Afghans elected a round of representatives, albeit that they included some warlords and murderers. But then the Iraqis last year elected the Dawa party to power in Baghdad, which was responsible - let us not speak this in Washington - for most of the kidnappings of Westerners in Beirut in the 1980s, the car bombing of the (late) Emir and the US and French embassies in Kuwait.And now, horror of horrors, the Palestinians have elected the wrong party to power. They were supposed to have given their support to the friendly, pro-Western, corrupt, absolutely pro-American Fatah, which had promised to "control" them, rather than to Hamas, which said they would represent them. And, bingo, they have chosen the wrong party again.Result: 76 out of 132 seats. That just about does it. God damn that democracy. What are we to do with people who don't vote the way they should?' Lees verder:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11694.htm

Het failliete Amerika 6

NewsMax. Com bericht: 'Economist Magazine Warns 'Danger Time' for U.S. This week's edition of The Economist magazine offers an ominous warning for the U.S economy. "Danger Time for America" - the respected global weekly magazine states, depicting a cover drawing of Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan passing a stick of dynamite labeled the "The Economy." The Economist is not given to alarmist warnings. But the magazine believes the U.S. economy is in for a rocky road beginning this year, and challenges economic optimists' recent sunny predictions regarding the U.S. financial picture. The Economist report mirrors the analysis that has been offered by the Financial Intelligence Report, a publication of NewsMax and MoneyNews. The FIR has been warning investors for some time of the potential economic chaos that Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan is about to drop on the American economy.' Zie: http://www.newsmax.com/adv/economist/