Americans forget; Afghans do Not.

The latest twist and turn in the Afghan misadventure takes the form of anti-American riots, protests, and bombs, by Afghans at Americans over the burning of the Koran by American military. Mainstream media leads readers to believe that the uproar is solely because of the burning incident, however there is far more to it. While the American public appears to passively accept the “accidental” killing of Afghan kids, Afghans take this pretty seriously. They love their kids as we do, yet we cannot seem to understand that a murdered child by America produces indescribable hatred. Last week we killed 8 more Afghan children resulting in hatred second to none. Afghans have had enough of the “mistakes” and “apologies” for killing innocent men, women, and children. One might be able to understand killing 80 innocent people at a wedding party, or even another 40 killed at another wedding party in Kandahar, but the apologies and admissions of “mistakes” become unbelievable when there are at least 4 wedding parties attacked. Afghans however are closer to the deaths and they do not wonder. They now believe the incidents are not “accidents”, and the frequency of such actions does make one wonder. Could our military really be that stupid?

In addition to the burning of the Koran, readers should not forget other grievously offensive incidents resulting in deaths and apologies. Afghans were enraged by American soldiers urinating on the bodies of their dead, only to be told this was an act of young irresponsible soldiers who did not know better. That might wash with the US public, but not with Afghans. We tend to live in a vacuum and forget the relationship of one “incident” to another, while Afghans link them all together and draw conclusions that escape the US public. For example, while we view the Koran burning as an isolated incident, Afghans link it to the murder of their children, and the urinating on the bodies of their deceased. We tend to separate those things while Afghans link them. Remember the pictures and articles describing US military units that were exposed for taking body parts as trophies after murdering Afghans? You may have forgotten, but Afghans have not. In a fast moving media world the US public probably moved on long ago and has only vague and distant memories of the pictures of the “trophy” takers, while such things are burned into the minds of Afghan public. Nor did Afghans forget that only one soldier was sentenced while the others were given immunity. The one convicted soldier found guilty of murdering three civilians and then cutting off fingers for trophies, will be eligible for parole in 9 years.

While you may have forgotten the bombing which killed 70 civilians in Helmand province and two weeks later another 90 innocents were killed, 60 of whom were children, rest assured Afghans will never forget.

In addition to the murder of countless innocents, usually followed by denials from the US government until the facts prove them wrong, followed by the inevitable “apology” and admission of a “mistake”, there are other offenses that Afghans will never forget. Thousands of civilians have been rounded up and kept in jail for years with no charges or accusations against them. Rumors of tortured innocents at the hands of their occupiers prevail among the Afghan population. Most know someone arrested or tortured, and among Afghans, the Bagram prison base has become the Abu Ghraib of Afghanistan.

All of this makes even less sense because there is no logical rational defense for the Afghan war. Certainly in this Republican political season of debates and primaries, there has been no discussion of why we are in Afghanistan, a subject conspicuously absent in all the debates. Indeed Republicans are more interested in talking about birth control, the devil invading academia, and tax cuts for the rich. The political silence surrounding the Afghan occupation is non partisan and Democrats are just as guilty as Republicans. They cannot talk about Afghanistan for there is no logical rational explanation for why we area there. While there is no serious public discussion either in the media or by US politicians of what the US is doing in Afghanistan, the fire burns among Afghan people. Afghans simply know we should not be there killing their people.
While the US public is preoccupied with reality TV and superficial nonsense, the “ignorant” Afghan population is using all of the individual “mistakes” and “apologies” to form a mental chain of events that is now taking the form of hatred towards Americans. It was General McChrystal who said: “"We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat,", and who also created the concept of Insurgent Math when he stated: “for every innocent person you kill, you create 10 new enemies.” So readers beware; there is multiplication going on in Afghanistan, and at some point the American public will wake form its stupor and realize the effects of multiplication.

While we pat ourselves on the back as outstanding world citizens bringing good to the world, we fail to see the trail of 3 million dead in Southeast Asia and the one million dead we left in Iraq, and who knows what the final tally will be in Afghanistan, or the impending war with Iran. We should pause and reflect on these numbers; they are Hitler like.

Yemenis don't hate us because we are free.

You may or may not know that the US has supported the dictator of Yemen for years, so when the Arab Spring occurred we tried very hard to look the other way and stick our head in the sand, while Mr. Saleh killed and murdered protestors. Meanwhile in Libya we intervened militarily and will do so in Syria in the near future, unless Russia and China really put their foot down attempting to prevent US military expansion through force, by entering another nation’s civil war.

After a long brutal struggle against his people, Saleh finally agreed to step down and came to the US for sanctuary. Throughout the long violent downfall of Saleh the US was conspicuously quiet, and our usually bombastic diplomatic corps headed by Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice were suddenly very “diplomatic” when talking about Saleh’s murders. The dictator finally agreed to end his rule and President Obama gave permission for Saleh to come to the US where he has been living a life of luxury in a posh New York City hotel. For years Saleh had been armed by the US government, he used his military might to keep his people in line during his 33 year reign, and had been a good a good puppet. We like to stick by our friends.

President Obama took the time to praise the latest election in Yemen, suggesting this might be a big step towards democracy, but on the very day Obama praised the election, bombs were detonated killing at least 26 people in Yemen. Not everyone is happy and content with the latest election. Some might oppose the election because there was only one candidate. That’s correct one candidate; a loyal supporter, a former general, and Vice President of Saleh over the years, and who is friendly towards the US. More US military aid is currently being discussed for Yemen and the US already gave 2 million dollars to the electoral commission which planed and oversaw the election. It was the US who brokered the deal for this new one man “election”, and was also responsible for Saleh being given immunity for his actions as dictator of Yemen. A comparison of Saleh’s treatment with that of Muammar Qaddafi proves instructional.

Meanwhile Saleh has been busy packing his bags so he can return to Yemen. That’s right; he will return to Yemen. Part of the US brokered deal requires that he step aside, but under the “arrangement” he is allowed to participate in the politics of Yemen. Again many skeptics in Yemen suspect that this “arrangement” has merely turned over the reins of government to one of Saleh’s loyalists, while in reality Saleh will have unlimited influence in the “new” government, or even run the government through front men. Perhaps Saleh has not abdicated his power after all, and this might explain the bombs being detonated in Yemen.

A recent poll in Yemen showed 96% of the people expressed opposition to their government’s cooperation with the US government. Because of this, a military base in Yemen would be the source of Yemeni anger, but the US has apparently found a way to get its base. Socotra, a small island about 200 miles off Yemen is seeing a huge US military build-up in recent months, some suggesting in preparation for the neocons planed war against Iran. The build-up is being done without discussion in the US, but is well documented on the internet.

Ladies and gentlemen, either way we have a new puppet, or an old one in disguise, even if many in Yemen might not.

All’s well that ends well; for the US that is. Readers however, might anticipate “blowback” at some point from this kind of US interference in the affairs of others.

The Stupidity of American Exceptionalism

One of the worst features of American Exceptionalism, the belief that the US is the best in everything, is that it leads to the inevitable conclusion that since we are the best in everything we can learn nothing from anyone else in the world. Along with this attitude comes a bunker mentality that no one has anything worthwhile to offer the US, since we are the best in everything; so wave the flag, call yourself a patriot, and the rest of the world be damned.

Perhaps with an open mind, which no longer exists in this country, we could learn much from others. Two examples might prove a point. Canada has a strong economy, with no banking crises, national health insurance for all citizens, and more social programs than offered in the US; yet it has no national debt and a government surplus for the past 12 of 13 years. We might just learn something by looking north, but with our American Exceptionalism attitude, the blinder interferes with our vision north.

Look south then, and see another strong powerful emerging nation in Brazil. Brazil is an emerging superpower and has closed the gap tremendously between rich and poor, while that gap continues to increase exponentially in this country. Brazil did not have a banking crises, bank failure, or bailouts. In Brazil the CEO of a bank has personal legal liability for banking crimes, while in the US big time bankers are given immunity from prosecution. Too bad our vision is so clouded by our belief in US supremacy. Meanwhile US taxpayers have been mugged and robbed by the US government’s transfer of 12 trillion dollars from the pockets of citizens to large powerful influential banks, while banking leaders are given legal immunity. Taxpayers were not even asked or consulted; their money was simply taken. What fools we are.

Many will criticize, saying if you don’t like it here get out; another stupid side effect of American Exceptionalism.

Syria, the road to Iran

The truth of the matter is that no one really knows what is happening in Syria, and anyone pretending to, is a fraud. We do know certain things that are relevant. We know there are no reliable media outlets with “boots on the ground” in Syria, and the reports that emerge are videos from unknown people with those videos ending up on YouTube. It’s a YouTube war that is being filmed by unknown people, all of course who have an agenda. It is evident that there is a Civil War raging throughout Syria with both sides guilty of shedding much blood. We also know, but not through mainstream media, that the US has been covertly fomenting violence in Syria, and just last week an airliner from the US was found to be carrying forged passports, money, and weapons heading to Syria. This airliner was discovered by security forces in Lebanon, and the plane and its contents have been impounded by the Lebanese authorities. A story not reported in the US of course.
Despite media’s attempt to portray this as a slaughter of innocents by the Syrian government, it is clear that there is an armed resistance fighting against the Syrian government, and that the US, Turkey, and NATO nations have been arming the resistance. Credible sources have shown the US has been training the resistance since November of 2011. By definition, an armed resistance, fighting against government forces, is a “Civil War”, and outside forces have no legal right to incite violence and contribute to the bloodshed by arming one side against another. Americans should well remember our own Civil War and how we tried to protect ourselves from outside European interference. Why was it considered wrong for nations to interfere in our Civil War, but it is acceptable for the US to interfere in other nations Civil Wars?

Which brings us to the question of just why the US is promoting and encouraging a Civil War in Syria? As usual all of our Middle East decisions are based on Israel’s wants, and its phobic hatred for Iran. In Israel’s mind, all roads lead to Iran, and Syria happens to be on the road to Iran. Israel’s obsessive compulsive behavior towards Iran has transferred itself to the US congress which is completely under control of Israel through AIPAC, the most powerful lobbying group in the nation. Brutal sanctions against Iran, written and proposed by AIPAC to the US Congress, have all been passed without debate, and the Congress of the US has put its political interests and future, ahead of the nation’s interests. Congress has followed its marching orders from AIPAC, in rushing headlong into a war that most likely will prove disastrous for the American people, even though there is not the slightest evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. This needs repeating. There is no evidence whatsoever that Iran is producing nuclear weapons. The IAEA, and the National Intelligence Estimates, which consist of conclusions from all our intelligence agencies, have said there is no evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. Remember those dastardly WMD that Iraq did not have? Israel has developed a bunker mentality, and no longer has the ability to think clearly and rationally about Iran’s non nuclear program, and many fear that the US is also developing the same attitude. Daily we are told by all kinds of media outlets that Iran has a secret nuclear weapons program, while all the facts say that is not so, but let’s not have the facts interfere with the desire for war. It’s Iraq all over again, with lies, distortions, deceptions, the tools of the warmongers.

If Israel and the US can bring about the downfall of Syria, Hezbollah will be weakened, which of course is to Israel’s advantage. Israel and the US are two of only a handful of nations that have declared Hezbollah as a “terrorist” group, but you would think from following mainstream media that the entire world considers Hezbollah as terrorist; not so. Most see it as a legitimate resistance group to Israel’s illegal occupations and attacks. But so much for rational debate and argument; Hezbollah must be destroyed to please Israel, and taking down Syria will weaken Hezbollah who is supported by Iran. As Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said recently, Assad’s ouster could be good for Israel by creating “a fissure in the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut-Hamas axis of evil”. Taking down Syria will also bring Israel and the US one step closer down that road to Iran.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador cried “disgusting”, when the Russians and Chinese vetoed the UN resolution against Syria, because they knew full well the intent of the resolution was another US/NATO war, this time against Syria. So they vetoed the resolution that would have led to an attack on Syria. Susan Rice, in the language unbecoming and never used by diplomats, accused the Russians of all kinds of nasty things such as defying world opinion and having blood on their hands. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who like Ms. Rice, has a dirty diplomatic mouth, accused Russian and China of “neutering” the Security Council, with its veto. Perhaps someone in mainstream media might have refreshed Ms Rice’s and Hillary’s memory, that no nation has used the UN veto power more times to defy world opinion than the US with 83 vetoes, 42 of which were to protect Israel from world opinion, but of course media does not do such things. It merely parrots the words of the administration without ever daring to challenge or seriously question. Meanwhile Russia has used its veto power a mere 13 times and China has used its veto power only 8 times. So in retrospect perhaps a debate on who “neutered” the Security Council by excessive use of the veto power might be constructive.

The pretext being used by the US and Israel to make war on Iran, is the accusation of Iran secretly trying to produce nuclear weapons, despite the fact that no intelligence agency has uncovered a shred of evidence that Iran in developing nuclear weapons, or is diverting any enriched uranium to a weapons program, but once again the facts be damned. The pretext is a ruse and becomes very transparent when the facts are recalled. In 1974 Iran called a “Nuclear Free Middle East Zone”, but the call was rejected by Israel and the US. In addition there have been several other appeals, most recently one put forward by the Saudi’s, to make the Middle East a Nuclear Free Zone, with once again Israel and the US in opposition. This is because Israel already has between 200-400 nuclear bombs in its own secret program, and has refused to allow inspections or participate in the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. Originally the Obama administration supported the idea of a Nuclear Free Middle East but was taken to the proverbial woodpile by the Israeli’s, and the administration then argued they made a “mistake”. In May of 2010 the UN General Assembly ratified a resolution calling for a Nuclear Free Middle East after all 189 member nations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty had supported the concept of a Nuclear Free Middle East. Israel blatantly dismissed the will of the world, and was protected by the US. In 2003 Syria called for a Middle East Zone that would be free of all WMD, and the US position was: “As a close ally of Israel, the United States will block any attempts to adopt the resolution -- even if it is called upon to exercise its veto powers.''

So upon investigation it is apparent that the nuclear issue is just a false pretext with the real goal of overthrowing the regime in Iran. The hope is that Iran would be thrown into chaos or civil war which would obviously weaken Iran, and therefore please Israel. US involvement in Middle East nations always has as its goal to bring about instability, and readers need only to look at the instability of Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Afghanistan, and the effort to cause turmoil and Civil War in Syria, as evidence of US strategy.

A complicating factor is throughout its history Iran has been a peaceful nation and has not invaded anyone for about 600 years. This is an interesting contrast with the military record of the US who is constantly at war with someone. Iran did of course fight a brutal 8 year war with Iraq and during that bloodbath the US was arming both sides to insure a long bloody war. The US currently is trying to provoke Iran into some kind of retaliation so that there might be at least some pretext for attacking Iran. The latest provocation is the US sending into the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s back yard, a US aircraft carrier, an act that Rear Admiral Roy Shoemaker admitted to the BBC, “The presence of this ship is provocative.” The hope of course is another Gulf of Tonkin incident so we can claim being attacked, and have our next war.
A final question of who benefits from war is important. Israel believes they will benefit but in the long run a war with Iran will make Israel less safe, and certainly the oil companies will exploit the situation by using the war as and excuse for exploiting the public with tremendous rise in prices of oil and gas. Keep your eyes open for the quarterly oil company profits which will be released in the near future. The US public once again will be the big losers, for not only will the costs of war will rest on the public’s shoulders, but they will also be severely punished at the gas pump. But that’s what happens when a government puts the interests of another nation ahead of that of its own citizens.