27 March 2011

More Libya comments

I have some more comments on the newest war of ours. Yep, Libya again, or still, your choice.
First off please visit Reality Zone, he has posted a link to an article on how Ms. Maddow is now cheerleading for the war of Gobomber. Somehow, she now represents the "left" or at least that is her media role now days. No doubt many also still think of Olbermann as a "lefty", even though he no longer "graces" the TV sets. Or has he got a program at his new gig with Al Gore TV?
Actually, Ms. Maddow is like many supposedly liberal folks in the old US of A. How many of you have noticed that the anti-war movement is basically dead since the last presidential election? Oh boy! We have a member of the donkey gang in the "top job" so all is well with the world. The "we must support our president". And other assorted bull crap being tossed at us by the "professional left".
Well, bullshit on that noise! We, the decent human beings who despise war MUST protest all of the damn fool wars of choice, Libya included. YES, I DO want the people of Libya to be free to elect whomever THEY want to run their country. BUT, how about Gaza and ALL of Palestine? How about Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and every other country across this planet?  
"We" are very selective in just who it is that "we" think deserves "our" support in the quest for better government.
Back to Ms. maddow for a moment. If we are to go by her advise, we will not ever protest any war that is started by a democratic president. Somehow the wars they get us into are "better" or more "noble" or some such. Hey, remember, this president has a Nobel Peace Prize. Yeah, big damn deal. She says that he is less war like than Shrubbie. Oh, this guy, Gobomber, launched drone strikes against Pakistan in his first week on the job. In his just over two years in office, he has launched more drone strikes against Pakistan than Shrubbie did in eight years! Some "peace president". 
When old Smedley Butler said that war is a racket, he meant that for ALL wars. Not just those lead by a republican president. Holy crap! Wars are nasty brutish and vile. I have been in a shooting war in Vietnam. I do not want any other people to go through that ever again. As General Butler said, and I have posted here more than a few times, there are only two reasons for war. 1) to defend OUR homes, and 2) to defend the Bill of Rights. Where are "we" doing that anywhere today? Right, nowhere.
I caught some other bits regarding the Libya war that caught my attention. Some of which may have slipped through the cracks as it were. One very interesting bit is that Algerian and Ethiopian mercenaries are exempt from prosecution, but not those from Tunisia, Chad, Niger, and Guinea. THEY can be subject to prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating Gaddafi for crimes already. Now, just what is so "special" about the mercenaries from Algeria and Ethiopia? I wonder when or if we will ever be told why this is so.
While it seems that NATO will be "in charge" of the Libya war, I noticed that "our" newest military command Africom is not based in any of the 53 African countries. None of them wanted it, so, Africom is based in, wait for it, Stuttgart, Germany. Yep, the US military command responsible for all of Africa is based in that wonderful "African" country of Germany. No doubt many Germans will be wondering just when their country moved southwards.
Notice one other bit of news on the Libya war. The BRIC countries all opposed this war. In fact, at the UN, there is now a growing "coalition of the opposed".  Even the Arab League is not so "gung-ho" as we have been told. YES, the GCC states DO favor bumping off old Gaddafi, but look who runs those oil kingdoms. They tend to go along with whatever the Saudis say or do. Just look at Bahrain where they ruling clan has asked the House of Saud to send in troops to quell the restless population of that island kingdom. Can't let the Bahrainis revolt, the 5th Fleet is based there after all. Add the fact that the ruler of that island nation are on "our" side and you see just how much any "reform" has for the common people of that country. Yeah, none, or, much like right here in America, where the working class and poor are being told there will be cuts to anything they may benefit from while the very rich get more tax breaks. Some "democracy", at home and around the world as "supported" by the US government. America, what a country.
Another comment jumped out at me. Secretary of Defense(??) Robert Gates this week said the latest bombing of Gaza by the Zionist entity is/was a "legitimate use of force"!! Well, maybe I should no longer get pissed when I read this sort of bullshit, but I do. Yes, it IS standard fare for the US government and most of the European governments as well. Still, this hypocrisy gets me very pissed off. The Palestinians are human beings, just like all of us, and they deserve to have their own home country NOT with borders and the economy controlled by ANY other country. they have the absolute human right to have their own country and to live in peace with their neighboring countries. They have the right to be able to live without fear of attack by other countries and to be able to provide a decent life for themselves and their children. They ARE our fellow human beings and just about any sane person can tell you that there will not be real peace in the Mille East until the Palestine/Israel issue is finally resolved.
Until then, we will continue to be told, time and again, how ANY violent act by the Palestinians is terrorism while ANY use of violence by the Zionist entity is "legitimate use of force". We must demand that the supposed leaders of our country stop this outright bullshit. It is long gone past the point of double standards folks. It has entered the realm of absolute bullshit, plain and simple.
semper fi

6 comments:

gesneri said...

I'm really glad that my aunt, who worked with the peace movement starting in the late 1950s and continued until her death in 2007, is not here to see what's happened to the movement she supported so strongly. She would have been outraged at the "Peace" prize given to a man who had done nothing to earn it and further outraged by what that man continued to do after he received it. Our world has turned upside down and the lunatics are truly running the asylum.

john francis lee said...

On Libya and the 'forgotten' nuclear disaster in Japan...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/27/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110327

' Disaster-hit Japan faces protracted nuclear crisis

' "I think maybe the situation is much more serious than we were led to believe," said one expert, Najmedin Meshkati, of the University of Southern California, adding it may take weeks to stabilize the situation and the United Nations should step in.

' "This is far beyond what one nation can handle - it needs to be bumped up to the U.N. Security Council. In my humble opinion, this is more important than the Libya no fly zone." '

Certainly agree that the Israelis are taking advantage of the Libyan news shadow to attack the Palestinians imprisoned behind the barbed wire in the Gaza Concentration Camp

The first act of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate slash War Criminal Barack Obama should have been to use the Mediterranean Fleet to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza and to deliver relief to the Palestinians in Gaza after the Israeli Cast Lead onslaught.

Instead... silence from the Israeli sock puppet installed as POTUS.

Mike Whitney said...

Couldn't agree with you more on Libya, Charlie. (or Israel, for that matter)

It is odd, though, how the US never even looks at other alternatives to violence anymore.

"Gotta problem? Send in the troops and cruise missiles."

I think the Dems believe they are more balanced because Madame Hillary gets to throw her weight around from time to time. But the bottom line is always the same: Miltary force is the cure-all for America's problems.

It's sad.

charlie ehlen said...

gesneri,
I have been glad, as much as I can be, that dad didn't live to see what both Shrubbie AND Gobomber have done to this country. He was very against "saint" Ronnie as we had managed to survive his being governor of California. He would be even more disgusted (being very polite) with the way things have gone since then.
John,
Yes, the nuclear mess in Japan seems to be off page one for sure. Well, war trumps all in 'Merikkka.
We all need to keep a very close eye on Japan. Radiation does not care about borders.
Mike,
I read a comment the other day. America seems to find the money for war, but when asked to feed the hungry, we are broke.
Now that is not the way things should be. We should feed the hungry and hold a garage sale to buy the bombs.

Mike Whitney said...

Well, put, Charlie. Bravo.

And,yes indeed, Pepe Escobar is one of the best there is. His rundown on America's "Great Game" in Central Asia or "pipelanistan" as he calls it, is the best analysis anywhere. He's really figured out Washington's strategy going forward regardless of the consequences.

As for Rachel Maddow and the rest, it makes you wonder why she would waste 4 or 5 years building up her credibility just to flush it down the toilet on a pointless and immoral war in Libya.

I guess if Democratic presidents wage war, then it's okay, right?

charlie ehlen said...

Mike,
I figured you either had read Pepe or would want to. He is one of the best, my opinion. He sure has got DC figured. He has opened my eyes a few times.
I also wonder about Ms. Maddow. It IS somewhat true, if a donkey gang member holds the top job, then their wars are OK. What a totally crock. War is wrong, with the two exceptions given by old Smedley Butler. How these people call themselves liberal, well, it is just a label.