Weekend
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Newsweek has an interesting take on the Egyptian uprising
Atlantic Magazine has an interesting lesson about middle east domino theory
A main street view of middle east uprisings (to add to the interest)
A UN expert who is a 9/11 Truther gets heat from UN Boss;
The expert replies wondering why everyone is so shrill about the issue;
Foreign Policy Journal wonders why all the fuss over the matter?
No better case illustrates the fact that the US government is a huge, impotent, helpless, stumbling, and blatantly CRIMINAL giant than the Guantanamo Bay Torture Facility. Absolutely shameful that a few alleged "terrorists" (most of whom are probably anything but, hence the US's unwillingness to allow them a fair, open trial, even though everybody knows the prosecutors would have their thumbs blatantly on the scales of justice) could make us throw away every thing we stand for.
ReplyDeleteOne Case Down, Guantanamo Still Far From Closing
And then Barry Obomber chimes in with this:
My administration has been closely monitoring the situation in Egypt, and I know that we will be learning more tomorrow when day breaks. As the situation continues to unfold, our first concern is preventing injury or loss of life. So I want to be very clear in calling upon the Egyptian authorities to refrain from any violence against peaceful protesters.
The people of Egypt have rights that are universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly and association, the right to free speech, and the ability to determine their own destiny. These are human rights. And the United States will stand up for them everywhere.
Transcript: President Obama's Remarks on Egypt
I'll bet what he's REALLY saying is that they should use drones, because as we all know, those are inherently non-violent and only kill the "evil doers." And as luck would have it, MOMCOM's got a few they'd probably be willing to let you test drive before buying.
If Mubarak's got any sense at all he'll renounce US aid immediately and tell NoBama to go f*** himself. Taking advice from war criminals is never advisable under any conditions.
What is this "interesting take" you refer too? It seems pretty simple the Egyptian people are pissed about 30 years of authoritarian rule, and increasing social inequities.
ReplyDeleteThe guns and tear gas being used against the people of Egypt are supplied by MOMCOM.
ReplyDeletePhilosopher's Mess,
ReplyDeleteAs you know "interesting" is any person's guess, from "may your life be interesting" (a Chinese curse), to "very interesting" a mockery.
Each philosopher to his or her own.
Welcome.
From the Atlantic link (this, just coincidentally, while I'm watching Syriana on the satellite TV):
ReplyDeleteThis raises a thorny question for the U.S.: If tens of thousands take to the streets - and stay on the streets - what will it do? The U.S. is the primary benefactor of the Egyptian regime, which, in turn, has reliably supported American regional priorities. After Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel, Egypt is the largest recipient of U.S. assistance, including $1.3 billion in annual military aid. In other words, if the army ever decides to shoot into a crowd of unarmed protestors, it will be shooting with hardware provided by the United States. As Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations points out, the Egyptian military is "not there to project power, but to protect the regime."
As always, world events call into question crony capitalism's true motivations, since support for true freedom (and not the crony "the fix is in" type that we here in the US now practice) means possibly supporting the "radical" idea that the locals might no longer be receptive to US-style global capitalism and MOMCOM imperialism. That would surely be unacceptable.
Heres a wager: In spite of Obama's recent calls for the Egyptian government to keep hands off of the protesters, certain black ops elements of the US government are no doubt practicing intervention scenarios as we speak to install and/or maintain a US friendly government in Egypt (and just about anywhere else for that matter) should their newly found freedom turn out to be too truly free after all. Hey, you don't get to be a leviathan imperialist power without employing such methods, and you damn sure don't let little things like some overwrought freedom protests in third world nations stand in the way of maintaining that status.
Very clever strategy here, albeit apparently not clever enough:
ReplyDeleteGuest Post: Is the Egyptian Government Using Agents Provocateur to Justify a Crack Down On the Protesters?
Al Jazeera reported today:
[Al Jazeera reporter] Ayman Mohyeldin reports that eyewitnesses have said “party thugs” associated with the Egyptian regime’s Central Security Services – in plainclothes but bearing government-issued weapons – have been looting in Cairo. Ayman says the reports started off as isolated accounts but are now growing in number.
The Telegraph reports:
“Thugs” going around on motorcycles looting shops and houses, according to Al Jazeera. They say they are getting more and more reports of looting. More worryingly, one group of looters who were captured by citizens in the upmarket Cairo district of Heliopolis turned out to have ID cards identifying them as members of the regime security forces.
…
Eyewitnesses reported that one plain clothed man attempted to loot and destroy private property, and when confronted he was shot. Bystanders then took his identification out and revealed that he was a police officer, leaving a number of demonstrators to argue that the government has told police to instigate looting and unrest.
Stuff right out of the CIA playbook. Who’d a thunk?
CBS is repeating the "revolutionary thugs are looting the country (Egypt)" meme without any qualification whatsoever on TV as I speak. Question: Is the US MSM merely a lapdog to government/corporate interests, or are they actively complicit in spreading government propaganda? Hmm...
ReplyDeleteYes disaffected, reminds me of One Perspective On Spawning Freedom.
ReplyDeletePsyops are an integral part of MOMCOM freedom.
disaffected,
ReplyDelete"Is the US MSM merely a lapdog to government / corporate interests, or are they actively complicit in spreading government propaganda?"
The press according to one in the press says:
The Bush administration turned the U.S. military into a global propaganda machine while imposing tough restrictions on journalists seeking to give the public truthful reports about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Associated Press chief executive Tom Curley said Friday.
Curley, speaking to journalists at the University of Kansas, said the news industry must immediately negotiate a new set of rules for covering war because "we are the only force out there to keep the government in check and to hold it accountable."
(Warriors Press For Propaganda).
Face the Nation led off with a live report from Cairo, where low flying MOMCOM-provided jet fighters made the interview almost unintelligible. Afterward NoBama shill HillBillary reiterated the now standard talking points about the protest turning violent, with wide spread looting, escaped prisoners, etc. One can easily see the ground being prepared for a violent crackdown in the name of "restoring civilization" or some such bullshit, even as the NoBama talking heads remain on message calling for restraint.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, how do you think they'd respond if say in 2013 or so, millions took to the streets in Washington, pissed off about the loss of pensions and savings due to the next Wall St meltdown, calling for the heads of Wall St criminals and the immediate end of MOMCOM wars of imperialism? How many calls for restraint do you think we'll hear then? [sound of crickets chirping...]
Although, Joel Osteen is now telling me that "2011 is going to be an above and beyond year." There's certainly no accounting for religious hucksterism.
disaffected,
ReplyDelete"how do you think they'd respond if say in 2013 or so, millions took to the streets in Washington, pissed off about the loss of pensions and savings due to the next Wall St meltdown"
According to MOMCOM it will go like this:
"A new report by the U.S. Army War College talks about the possibility of Pentagon resources and troops being used should the economic crisis lead to civil unrest, such as protests against businesses and government or runs on beleaguered banks.
“Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security,” said the War College report.
The study says economic collapse, terrorism and loss of legal order are among possible domestic shocks that might require military action within the U.S."
(States of War Budgets - 4). Egypt will be calling for restraint on the part of the US government.
Paul Craig Roberts says:
ReplyDelete"Anyone who believes the US government about anything is the epitome of gullibility."
Link
[Dr. Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury, associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, a member of the congressional staff, and held academic appointments at Stanford University, Georgetown University, VirginiaTech, Tulane University, George Mason University, and the University of New Mexico. He is the author or coauthor of nine books, numerous articles in scholarly journals, a contributor to many books and to economic dictionaries and encyclopedias. He was awarded the US Treasury’s Silver Medal, the French Legion of Honor, and has testified before committees of Congress on 30 occasions. He was Business Week’s first outside columnist and was columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service and Creators Syndicate in Los Angeles. Dr. Roberts was educated at Georgia Tech, the University of Virginia, the University of California at Berkeley, and at Oxford University where he was a member of Merton College. His latest book, How The Economy Was Lost, was published by Counterpunch/AK press in 2010. Read more articles by Paul Craig Roberts.]
Randy,
ReplyDeleteMaybe THAT will be NoBamas’s lasting legacy (and if so, his presidency won’t have been a COMPLETE loss). Call it The End of the Innocence. Cue Don Henley:
O' beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie
Don Henley, The End of the Innocence, elyrics.net
Dredd,
ReplyDeleteAlthough...
Egypt will be calling for restraint on the part of the US government.
I think Egypt, and the entire fucked-over third world for that matter, might instead laugh their collective asses off at the poetic justice of the great leviathan FINALLY getting its just due, and instead cheer on the carnage.
Misery loves company, and god and the devil BOTH know we've spread a WHOLE LOT more than our share of the former. If you believe in karma as I do, MAN is it gonna be a bitch when the wheel finally turns against us. And that time is approaching quickly...
So, it is what it is. Tunesia, Egypt and Sudan are all about to get democracy. Jordan may, or may not speed up the King's recommended reforms. Anything less than a Parlimentary Monarchy will be unsustainable, in my opinion. Yemen is another story, and the trigger there is the unmanned drones and Wikileaks revelations. Sunni vs Shia big time showdown over there. As for Algeria and Monacco, good luck to their aspirations.
ReplyDeleteAs I have recommended many times before, In my opinion, we should immediately lift sanctions on Iran, normalize relations and exchange ambassadors. let Iran build their IPI gas pipeline, thereby putting the Saudi Kingdoms in their places.
One thing is sure, Marbarbaric has to go. But Egypt is not a domino. The Greater Mid east is ripe for change, which we cannot bring to them with our gunboat democracy.