The estimable Mr. Engelhardt at TomDispatch offers this excellent overview of one of the most profound -- and unremarked -- developments in modern world history: the rise of an American empire of military bases, an iron chain of bristling outposts running along the Oil Arc through the Balkans, the Middle East and Central Asia. An excerpt:
"Put in historical terms, in the last decade-plus, as the pace of our foreign wars has picked up, we've left behind, after each of them, a new set of bases like the droppings of some giant beast marking the scene with its scent. Bases were dropped into Saudi Arabia and the small Gulf emirates after our first Gulf War in 1991; into the former Yugoslavia after the Kosovo air war of 1999; into Pakistan, Afghanistan, and those former Central Asian SSRs after the Afghan war of 2001; and into Iraq after the invasion of 2003. War in Iraq, in turn, has spawned at least 106 bases of various sizes and shapes; while a low-level but ongoing guerilla conflict in Afghanistan has produced a plethora of fire bases, outposts, air bases, and detention centers of every sort. It's a matter of bases and prisons where there is opposition. Just bases where there isn't. This, it seems, is now the American way in the world."
Thursday, June 02, 2005
"Tax Breaks for Rich Murderers"
From the London Review of Books: a review of Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth, by Michael Graetz and Ian Shapiro.
The reviewer, David Runciman, gives an in-depth look at "one of the most interesting books about politics, and power, and the way the world is going, that you are ever likely to read." It is, Runicman says, "a mystery story. The mystery is this: how did the repeal of a tax that applies only to the richest 2 per cent of American families become a cause so popular and so powerful that it steamrollered all the opposition placed in its way?
"The estate tax was the most progressive part of the American tax system, because it rested on the principle that the wealthy few, if they were not willing to bequeath their money to charity, should not be permitted to pass it all directly to their heirs. It had been on the statute book for nearly a hundred years, and throughout that time it had been generally assumed that there was widespread support for the idea that unearned wealth passed between the generations, creating pockets of aristocratic privilege, was not part of the American dream. Because it was a tax that so obviously took from the relatively few to relieve the burden on the very many, there seemed no possibility that a sufficiently large or durable coalition of interests could ever be formed to get rid of it.
"Yet during the 1990s just such a coalition came into being, and not only did it hold together, it grew to the point where the clamour for estate tax repeal seemed irresistible. What Graetz and Shapiro want to know is how the architects of repeal got so many different people on board. How they stopped them falling out among themselves, once it became clear that they could not possibly have the same interests in common. And why the hell the Democratic Party didn’t do more to stop them."
Grim, instructive reading, a perfect example of the by-now near-total manipulation of American politics by the monied elite headed and embodied by the Bushist faction.
(Via The Angry Arab.)
The reviewer, David Runciman, gives an in-depth look at "one of the most interesting books about politics, and power, and the way the world is going, that you are ever likely to read." It is, Runicman says, "a mystery story. The mystery is this: how did the repeal of a tax that applies only to the richest 2 per cent of American families become a cause so popular and so powerful that it steamrollered all the opposition placed in its way?
"The estate tax was the most progressive part of the American tax system, because it rested on the principle that the wealthy few, if they were not willing to bequeath their money to charity, should not be permitted to pass it all directly to their heirs. It had been on the statute book for nearly a hundred years, and throughout that time it had been generally assumed that there was widespread support for the idea that unearned wealth passed between the generations, creating pockets of aristocratic privilege, was not part of the American dream. Because it was a tax that so obviously took from the relatively few to relieve the burden on the very many, there seemed no possibility that a sufficiently large or durable coalition of interests could ever be formed to get rid of it.
"Yet during the 1990s just such a coalition came into being, and not only did it hold together, it grew to the point where the clamour for estate tax repeal seemed irresistible. What Graetz and Shapiro want to know is how the architects of repeal got so many different people on board. How they stopped them falling out among themselves, once it became clear that they could not possibly have the same interests in common. And why the hell the Democratic Party didn’t do more to stop them."
Grim, instructive reading, a perfect example of the by-now near-total manipulation of American politics by the monied elite headed and embodied by the Bushist faction.
(Via The Angry Arab.)
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
A Moral Abyss Beyond All Words
AP: Gitmo Detainees Say They Were Sold
As Delia, one of the astute commenters on this site, put it: "Anything you think of, the reality gets worse."
As Delia, one of the astute commenters on this site, put it: "Anything you think of, the reality gets worse."
To the Victors Go the Spoils
Who won the war in Iraq?
Iran did.
(Baltimore Sun, via Juan Cole)
More on this theme:
Playing With Fire: The U.S., Iraq, Iran
(Immanuel Walllerstein, via Wolcott)
Iran did.
(Baltimore Sun, via Juan Cole)
Playing With Fire: The U.S., Iraq, Iran
(Immanuel Walllerstein, via Wolcott)
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Who Let the Dogs Out? Cheney Dishes Gulag Gumbo
So now they've trotted out Dick Cheney to defend the Bush Regime's GWOT Gulag against the flood of reports detailing systematic torture, abuse and degradation in the highly secretive system. There are few sights more impressive and inspiring than watching a titan of statesmanship enter the arena of public debate, fearlessly confronting his adversaries in forensic combat. And there was Cheney, that man-mountain of character and courage, daring to step into the lion's den that is Larry King Live, taking on the stern inquisitor whose journalistic rigor has wrung salt tears and shattering confessions from such leading public figures as Zsa Zsa Gabor and Siegfried and Roy. Yes, that's the measure of our valiant Veep, a man who never let actual military service interfere with his selfless lifelong devotion to war....
However, sarcasm aside, it must be said that Larry King is actually a tougher interviewer than Cheney's usual pussycat of choice, Tim "Whiffle-Ball" Russert. Still, the show was the usual farce: Cheney, ineradicable sneer firmly in place, belched out Bushist propaganda lines without challenge while King nodded affably and thought about dinner.
There's really not much point in getting all het up about the odious veep. Cheney is an unregenerate member of the Snidely Whiplash school of the hard Right, unwilling or unable to conceal his smirking contempt for the idiotic American public that keeps voting him and his bloodthirsty, ball-breaking faction into power. To steal a line from Gore Vidal, Cheney's open scorn for democracy and the people "makes Coriolanus look like Hubert Humphrey." Whenever Cheney surfaces from the bowels of the White House, you know exactly what you're going to get: horseshit gumbo, served piping hot.
And so it proved this week. Cheney blasted critics of the Gulag as murderous anti-American terrorists "peddling lies" -- neatly overlooking the fact that the vast majority of credible reports about systematic torture and abuse in the system come from two main sources: 1) released prisoners (i.e., men who would not have been released at all if there were the slightest chance that they were actually "individuals who have been actively involved as the enemy, if you will, trying to kill Americans," as Cheney described the Guantanamo detainees); and 2), investigations by the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. government agencies.
No, in Cheney's gumbo, there are only a few "allegations" of "mistreatment" that, upon investigation, are melted into air, into thin air. Why, it even turns out that the guy who made those slanderous accusations about Korans in the toilet and what all was recently re-interviewed in his cell and "was unable to substantiate his account," Cheney said. Obviously, the concentration camp prisoner should have been able to produce copious documentation -- video, affidavits, photos, paper trails -- for his scurrilous accusations...while hanging chained from the ceiling in a "stress position," of course.
But that's our Dick: lies, elisions, misdirection, false analogies -- the same stew he served up before the Iraq War, when he was the leading dispenser of iron certitude about the imminent threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In fact, the Bush Regime has done us all a favor by unleashing Dick to bark and belch on the subject of American torture. For Cheney is a pole star by which we can all plot our course on the roiling sea of spin and propaganda: whatever he says -- anything, on any subject -- is 100 percent guaranteed to be a lie. If you want to know the truth, simply look to the opposite of Cheney's assertions. If he says Iraq has WMD -- it doesn't. If he says the Bush Regime is not engaged in wholesale torture -- it is.
Thus his appearance on Larry King has provided us with confirmation, at the very highest level, of the horror he and his little meat-puppet George have foisted upon the nation, and the world.
However, sarcasm aside, it must be said that Larry King is actually a tougher interviewer than Cheney's usual pussycat of choice, Tim "Whiffle-Ball" Russert. Still, the show was the usual farce: Cheney, ineradicable sneer firmly in place, belched out Bushist propaganda lines without challenge while King nodded affably and thought about dinner.
There's really not much point in getting all het up about the odious veep. Cheney is an unregenerate member of the Snidely Whiplash school of the hard Right, unwilling or unable to conceal his smirking contempt for the idiotic American public that keeps voting him and his bloodthirsty, ball-breaking faction into power. To steal a line from Gore Vidal, Cheney's open scorn for democracy and the people "makes Coriolanus look like Hubert Humphrey." Whenever Cheney surfaces from the bowels of the White House, you know exactly what you're going to get: horseshit gumbo, served piping hot.
And so it proved this week. Cheney blasted critics of the Gulag as murderous anti-American terrorists "peddling lies" -- neatly overlooking the fact that the vast majority of credible reports about systematic torture and abuse in the system come from two main sources: 1) released prisoners (i.e., men who would not have been released at all if there were the slightest chance that they were actually "individuals who have been actively involved as the enemy, if you will, trying to kill Americans," as Cheney described the Guantanamo detainees); and 2), investigations by the Pentagon, the FBI, the CIA and other U.S. government agencies.
No, in Cheney's gumbo, there are only a few "allegations" of "mistreatment" that, upon investigation, are melted into air, into thin air. Why, it even turns out that the guy who made those slanderous accusations about Korans in the toilet and what all was recently re-interviewed in his cell and "was unable to substantiate his account," Cheney said. Obviously, the concentration camp prisoner should have been able to produce copious documentation -- video, affidavits, photos, paper trails -- for his scurrilous accusations...while hanging chained from the ceiling in a "stress position," of course.
But that's our Dick: lies, elisions, misdirection, false analogies -- the same stew he served up before the Iraq War, when he was the leading dispenser of iron certitude about the imminent threat of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In fact, the Bush Regime has done us all a favor by unleashing Dick to bark and belch on the subject of American torture. For Cheney is a pole star by which we can all plot our course on the roiling sea of spin and propaganda: whatever he says -- anything, on any subject -- is 100 percent guaranteed to be a lie. If you want to know the truth, simply look to the opposite of Cheney's assertions. If he says Iraq has WMD -- it doesn't. If he says the Bush Regime is not engaged in wholesale torture -- it is.
Thus his appearance on Larry King has provided us with confirmation, at the very highest level, of the horror he and his little meat-puppet George have foisted upon the nation, and the world.
Friday, May 27, 2005
Dubya Indemnity: Bush Renews Protection for War Pork Cronies
The remarkable Deep Blade reminds us of an important story that slipped completely beneath the media radar last week. (And my, isn't that a surprise!) George W. Bush has quietly renewed the infamous Executive Order 13303. (Or rather, it would be infamous if anyone knew about it.) This imperial edict, first promulgated in May 2003, bestows complete immunity -- civil, financial, even criminal -- on all US corporate interests involved in any way with Iraq's oil. Deep Blade provides a panoply of backing documents, so scoot on over there and check it out.
I first wrote about Order 13303 in the Moscow Times in August 2003, following up on reporting by Steve Kretzmann and Jim Vallette. Here's an except from that MT piece:
...In the order, Bush proclaims that any legal action taken for any reason against any American corporation dealing in "Iraqi petroleum products" at any point in the process – from well-head to gas-pump to boardroom – "constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States. In fact, the very possibility that one of Bush's oil pets might be held accountable for its actions while gorging on Iraqi crude is so terrifying that the Looter-in-Chief has declared a "national emergency" to deal with the situation. (A "national emergency" that he forgot to mention to, er, the nation.)
The Bush edict grants a blanket immunity to all traffickers in Iraqi oil – as long as their moolah finds its way, by hook or crook, into the coffers of "United States persons or entities." Bush declares flatly that any "judicial process" launched against these protected entities "shall be deemed null and void." And how to guarantee that his partners and patrons won't be troubled by some rogue nation that still clings to the outmoded principle of law and order? Simple: one of the agencies authorized to "employ all powers" necessary "to carry out the purposes of this order" is our old friend, the Defense Department...
The full story can be found here:
Dubya Indemnity: Bush Barons Beyond the Reach of Law
I first wrote about Order 13303 in the Moscow Times in August 2003, following up on reporting by Steve Kretzmann and Jim Vallette. Here's an except from that MT piece:
...In the order, Bush proclaims that any legal action taken for any reason against any American corporation dealing in "Iraqi petroleum products" at any point in the process – from well-head to gas-pump to boardroom – "constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security" of the United States. In fact, the very possibility that one of Bush's oil pets might be held accountable for its actions while gorging on Iraqi crude is so terrifying that the Looter-in-Chief has declared a "national emergency" to deal with the situation. (A "national emergency" that he forgot to mention to, er, the nation.)
The Bush edict grants a blanket immunity to all traffickers in Iraqi oil – as long as their moolah finds its way, by hook or crook, into the coffers of "United States persons or entities." Bush declares flatly that any "judicial process" launched against these protected entities "shall be deemed null and void." And how to guarantee that his partners and patrons won't be troubled by some rogue nation that still clings to the outmoded principle of law and order? Simple: one of the agencies authorized to "employ all powers" necessary "to carry out the purposes of this order" is our old friend, the Defense Department...
The full story can be found here:
Dubya Indemnity: Bush Barons Beyond the Reach of Law
The Progeny of Fear and Corruption
Why has the American media been so spineless in the face of the Bush Regime's high crimes and monstrous corruption? Wise man Robert Parry tells us:
"The Answer is Fear."
Parry has been one of the most indispensable -- and indefatigable -- sources of truth during the dark Age of Bush. Visit his website and learn the genuine history of modern America, and how we got into this degraded state. Parry's work reminds me of a line I wrote (in a cranky letter to the editor) way back in the run-up to the first Gulf War -- a line that, sadly, is still more than apt today:
"I think we are living in a world of lies -- lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies."
"The Answer is Fear."
Parry has been one of the most indispensable -- and indefatigable -- sources of truth during the dark Age of Bush. Visit his website and learn the genuine history of modern America, and how we got into this degraded state. Parry's work reminds me of a line I wrote (in a cranky letter to the editor) way back in the run-up to the first Gulf War -- a line that, sadly, is still more than apt today:
"I think we are living in a world of lies -- lies that don't even know they are lies, because they are the children and grandchildren of lies."
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Catapult the Propaganda: Bush Speaks the Truth at Last!
Thousands of dissident writers have thundered their imprecations at George W. Bush and his works for years now. But I don't think any of us have come up with a more perfectly crafted description of the Regime's devious and sinister methodology than the phrase coined by the Dear Leader His Own Self this week. Observe a master of the cogent, killing phrase at work (during a stop on his endless Social Security roadshow) with this pure political poetry:
"If you've retired, you don't have anything to worry about -- third time I've said that. (Laughter.) I'll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
Says it all, doesn't it? Captures the essence of the Bush Regime perfectly: brazen deceit coupled with the relentless militarization of American society. Note too how he equates truth with propaganda. And why not? For those higher beings who have left the grubby confines of the "reality-based community," there's no difference between the two.
(From Buzzflash, via Crooks and Liars.)
"If you've retired, you don't have anything to worry about -- third time I've said that. (Laughter.) I'll probably say it three more times. See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
Says it all, doesn't it? Captures the essence of the Bush Regime perfectly: brazen deceit coupled with the relentless militarization of American society. Note too how he equates truth with propaganda. And why not? For those higher beings who have left the grubby confines of the "reality-based community," there's no difference between the two.
(From Buzzflash, via Crooks and Liars.)
Road to Damascus: Next Step for the Crawford Caligula?
Corrente notes some ominous moves of US Naval forces sent on an "unexpected mission" to "support anti-terrorist efforts" in "the Balkans and the Middle East." Meanwhile, Condoleeza Rice has moved from condemning Syria for "not doing enough" to stop insurgents moving across its borders into Iraq to blasting Damascus for knowingly allowing insurgents to stage their operations on Syrian soil. And US forces in Iraq are carrying out large-scale attacks near the Syrian border. How long before "hot pursuit" of insurgents carries them into Syria itself, or some other border incident -- contrived or genuine -- gives rise to war fever among the chickenhawks of the Potomac?
All the recent Zarqawi noise seems to be part of this buildup as well. Would a jihadi website controlled or supporting Zarqawi really be posting a stream of stories about his being wounded, taken out of action, passing on the baton to an aide, etc.? Wouldn't they instead be singing the praises of their invicible leader, or other such freeper-like propaganda? One possibility is that it's dat ole debbil psy-ops at work again -- possibly setting up a scenario that finds the "jihadis" confessing that their boss is safe and sound in Syria: yet another casus belli for Bush agression.
The Syrians are desperately trying to stave off the impending strike -- first by withdrawing from Lebanon, and today by announcing their large-scale efforts in arresting would-be foreign insurgents trying to get into Iraq. Over and over they keep signaling how cooperative they've been in the "War on Terror," hoping, perhaps, they'll win brownie points for taking part in Bush's priority project. But of course, the "war on terror" is demonstrably NOT Bush's priority: the domination of world energy resources -- by force and threat -- and the imposition of Bush-style crony capitalism -- again by force and threat -- are the real foreign policy priorities of the Bush Administration.
Syria is in the cross-hairs: when Bush is ready to pull the trigger, he will. It wouldn't matter if Syria handed over Osama bin Laden on a platter. It's not about terrorism, it's not about "keeping America safe" -- it's about the brutal expansion of elite power.
This has been obvious for a long time. Here's a take on the Syrian situation that I wrote about in The Moscow Times -- in April 2003:
As shovels scoop the shredded viscera of cold collaterals in Baghdad, and brisk hoses scour the blood from market stalls and children's bedrooms – festive preparations to make ready for the enthronement of the new lords of Babylon – we cast an anxious gaze beyond the barbed steel of the security perimeter, to a column of troops and ordnance rumbling toward the horizon. Whither are they bound? Who's next to feel the mailed fist of liberation?
At the moment, all signs point to Syria. Iran, of course, would be a more glittering prize – not to mention a more remunerative one for the unholy trinity of Oil, Arms and Construction whose mephitic spirits brood over the rising American Empire. But Iran is a big beast; first Iraq must be chewed, swallowed and digested before there is sufficient room in the imperial gut – and sufficient loot in the imperial treasury – for another sumptuous banquet.
Syria, however, would make a tasty snack – rough fare gulped down on the long, circuitous march to Persia and Cathay. What's more, a dose of shock and awe for Damascus would secure the rear for any eventual push on Teheran. And once recalcitrant Syria is brought to heel, the juicy olive of Lebanon would surely fall of its own ripe weight, without any need of brutal plucking. Then, with the equally cowed Jordan, it could serve as a – what should we call it? repository? refuge? – yes, a refuge for the troublesome hordes of Palestine, transferred – humanely and happily, of course – from the newly cleansed lands of Judea and Samaria...
[snip]
....And last week, Bush courtiers suddenly began trumpeting the fact that the repressive Syrian regime – a Baathist Party state, just like Iraq! – sadistically tortures its prisoners, who are often snatched in secret arrests and held without charges or trial. This fact has hitherto been conveniently overlooked by the Bushist Party state, which has been sending some of its own Guantanamo zeks – often snatched in secret arrests and held without charges or trial – to Syria's torture chambers for "special interrogation."
But as Saddam has learned, doing America's dirty work – which he did for many years, bombing, brutalizing and gassing with the gushing support of Ronald Reagan, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George Bush Senior – cuts no ice when the courtiers change their plans. So keep looking for that light on the road to Damascus – not the blinding glory that converted Saul of Tarsus, but the flash of flesh-chewing MOABs launched by the Crawford Caligula, George Widowmaker Bush.
All the recent Zarqawi noise seems to be part of this buildup as well. Would a jihadi website controlled or supporting Zarqawi really be posting a stream of stories about his being wounded, taken out of action, passing on the baton to an aide, etc.? Wouldn't they instead be singing the praises of their invicible leader, or other such freeper-like propaganda? One possibility is that it's dat ole debbil psy-ops at work again -- possibly setting up a scenario that finds the "jihadis" confessing that their boss is safe and sound in Syria: yet another casus belli for Bush agression.
The Syrians are desperately trying to stave off the impending strike -- first by withdrawing from Lebanon, and today by announcing their large-scale efforts in arresting would-be foreign insurgents trying to get into Iraq. Over and over they keep signaling how cooperative they've been in the "War on Terror," hoping, perhaps, they'll win brownie points for taking part in Bush's priority project. But of course, the "war on terror" is demonstrably NOT Bush's priority: the domination of world energy resources -- by force and threat -- and the imposition of Bush-style crony capitalism -- again by force and threat -- are the real foreign policy priorities of the Bush Administration.
Syria is in the cross-hairs: when Bush is ready to pull the trigger, he will. It wouldn't matter if Syria handed over Osama bin Laden on a platter. It's not about terrorism, it's not about "keeping America safe" -- it's about the brutal expansion of elite power.
This has been obvious for a long time. Here's a take on the Syrian situation that I wrote about in The Moscow Times -- in April 2003:
As shovels scoop the shredded viscera of cold collaterals in Baghdad, and brisk hoses scour the blood from market stalls and children's bedrooms – festive preparations to make ready for the enthronement of the new lords of Babylon – we cast an anxious gaze beyond the barbed steel of the security perimeter, to a column of troops and ordnance rumbling toward the horizon. Whither are they bound? Who's next to feel the mailed fist of liberation?
At the moment, all signs point to Syria. Iran, of course, would be a more glittering prize – not to mention a more remunerative one for the unholy trinity of Oil, Arms and Construction whose mephitic spirits brood over the rising American Empire. But Iran is a big beast; first Iraq must be chewed, swallowed and digested before there is sufficient room in the imperial gut – and sufficient loot in the imperial treasury – for another sumptuous banquet.
Syria, however, would make a tasty snack – rough fare gulped down on the long, circuitous march to Persia and Cathay. What's more, a dose of shock and awe for Damascus would secure the rear for any eventual push on Teheran. And once recalcitrant Syria is brought to heel, the juicy olive of Lebanon would surely fall of its own ripe weight, without any need of brutal plucking. Then, with the equally cowed Jordan, it could serve as a – what should we call it? repository? refuge? – yes, a refuge for the troublesome hordes of Palestine, transferred – humanely and happily, of course – from the newly cleansed lands of Judea and Samaria...
[snip]
....And last week, Bush courtiers suddenly began trumpeting the fact that the repressive Syrian regime – a Baathist Party state, just like Iraq! – sadistically tortures its prisoners, who are often snatched in secret arrests and held without charges or trial. This fact has hitherto been conveniently overlooked by the Bushist Party state, which has been sending some of its own Guantanamo zeks – often snatched in secret arrests and held without charges or trial – to Syria's torture chambers for "special interrogation."
But as Saddam has learned, doing America's dirty work – which he did for many years, bombing, brutalizing and gassing with the gushing support of Ronald Reagan, Don Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and George Bush Senior – cuts no ice when the courtiers change their plans. So keep looking for that light on the road to Damascus – not the blinding glory that converted Saul of Tarsus, but the flash of flesh-chewing MOABs launched by the Crawford Caligula, George Widowmaker Bush.
Tattoo Nation: America Pays the Cover Charge for Bush's War Crimes
Here's an extended version of the latest Moscow Times column, also published on CounterPunch.org. An except below:
The young soldier thought she'd been sent to fight for democracy and freedom, the relative told Hersh, but it was a lie. Instead she found herself in Hell, committing crimes, violating her own nature, her sense of duty perverted by leaders who twisted it into a weapon to serve aggressive war. Since her return, said the relative, the young soldier keeps getting black tattoos, more and more of them, slowly covering her entire body -- trying literally to change her skin.
The fate of this soul-broken, tormented daughter of America embodies the nation itself under the malevolent reign of George W. Bush. The whole country is changing its skin, trying to cloak its shame and complicity by a wilful disfigurement. Who could look on the hideous form of Bush's America -- the snarling faces belching rancor on Fox News; the rabid partisans oozing bile through the halls of Congress; the money-glutting religious extremists relentlessly pushing ignorance, intolerance and theocratic dominion; the corporate beasts devouring the landscape, destroying communities, writing their own laws, gorging on unprecedented profits wrung from global sweatshops, corruption and war; the somnolent, silent, acquiescent public, blankly countenancing torture, deceit, elitist rule, military aggression and the open destruction of their Constitutional order -- and not see in all this a body politic in profound psychological crisis: traumatized, guilt-ridden, turning itself inside out in a frantic attempt to escape the truth?
**P.S. Please excuse the dating problems in the link given above. I haven't yet figured out how to do a separate long post with only a link or excerpt showing in the main blog, so I'm having to "pre-date" such items to get them off the main screen. Any advice on this problem would be most welcome.**
The young soldier thought she'd been sent to fight for democracy and freedom, the relative told Hersh, but it was a lie. Instead she found herself in Hell, committing crimes, violating her own nature, her sense of duty perverted by leaders who twisted it into a weapon to serve aggressive war. Since her return, said the relative, the young soldier keeps getting black tattoos, more and more of them, slowly covering her entire body -- trying literally to change her skin.
The fate of this soul-broken, tormented daughter of America embodies the nation itself under the malevolent reign of George W. Bush. The whole country is changing its skin, trying to cloak its shame and complicity by a wilful disfigurement. Who could look on the hideous form of Bush's America -- the snarling faces belching rancor on Fox News; the rabid partisans oozing bile through the halls of Congress; the money-glutting religious extremists relentlessly pushing ignorance, intolerance and theocratic dominion; the corporate beasts devouring the landscape, destroying communities, writing their own laws, gorging on unprecedented profits wrung from global sweatshops, corruption and war; the somnolent, silent, acquiescent public, blankly countenancing torture, deceit, elitist rule, military aggression and the open destruction of their Constitutional order -- and not see in all this a body politic in profound psychological crisis: traumatized, guilt-ridden, turning itself inside out in a frantic attempt to escape the truth?
**P.S. Please excuse the dating problems in the link given above. I haven't yet figured out how to do a separate long post with only a link or excerpt showing in the main blog, so I'm having to "pre-date" such items to get them off the main screen. Any advice on this problem would be most welcome.**
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Supper at Gunpoint: The Filibuster Deal
The commentariat is all abuzz over this burning question: was the filibuster deal a victory for the Democrats -- and by extension, for all those who believe in the Republic -- or not? The "Frist Filibuster" activists from Princeton had this take: It is a victory, won by a great deal of hard work and public mobilization, but...
"That having been said, it is a strange sort of victory, isn't it? If you believe that Senator Frist's nuclear option would have been illegal and unprecedented - as we do, along with many constitutional scholars and political analysts - then the Republican leadership should not have considered it in the first place. Is it a victory when the world is returned to what it should be? Do we celebrate normalcy?"
On balance, I think that, for today, we must indeed celebrate "normalcy." We must celebrate in the same way someone celebrates when the thug holding his family hostage allows the children to have their supper instead of blowing their heads off -- for now. Because that is where we are in America today -- fighting like the devil just to maintain a scrap of normal democratic life in the face of a relentless, ruthless faction bent on unrestrained domination.
So yes, let's celebrate the fact that the children's brains are not scattered across the table this morning. But of course the thug is still in the house with his loaded gun. And tomorrow -- as many of the "moderate" Republicans made crystal clear -- he may decide to pull the trigger.
"That having been said, it is a strange sort of victory, isn't it? If you believe that Senator Frist's nuclear option would have been illegal and unprecedented - as we do, along with many constitutional scholars and political analysts - then the Republican leadership should not have considered it in the first place. Is it a victory when the world is returned to what it should be? Do we celebrate normalcy?"
On balance, I think that, for today, we must indeed celebrate "normalcy." We must celebrate in the same way someone celebrates when the thug holding his family hostage allows the children to have their supper instead of blowing their heads off -- for now. Because that is where we are in America today -- fighting like the devil just to maintain a scrap of normal democratic life in the face of a relentless, ruthless faction bent on unrestrained domination.
So yes, let's celebrate the fact that the children's brains are not scattered across the table this morning. But of course the thug is still in the house with his loaded gun. And tomorrow -- as many of the "moderate" Republicans made crystal clear -- he may decide to pull the trigger.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Department of Correction
I'm afraid I have to apologize -- humbly, sincerely -- for my intemperate rant of last week concerning the murder of prisoners by American forces in Afghanistan. In that harsh outpouring, I gave the impression that the Bush Administration was not moving swiftly to rectify any unfortunate abberations in its entirely humane system of incarceration and interrogation.
But this morning comes news from the Associated Press that would cause even the bitterest Bush-bashing dissident to hang his head in shame at the injustice being done to the Commander-in-Chief's sterling reputation as a man of honor. AP tells us that one of the military policemen who helped beat a prisoner to death in Bagram has been given exemplary punishment by a U.S. military court. Yes, for his direct role in "pulpifying" the legs of a chained and helpless prisoner, who died of a pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots formed from the beatings, Specialist Brian E. Cammack has been slapped with...a three-month sentence.
Obviously, such stern retribution sends a clear message throughout the Bush Administration's entire system of compassionate conservative concentration camps. And that message is: If by some freak chance your torture duties are exposed, you will be gently removed from the scene with nominal punishment -- as long as you don't rat out your superiors, of course.
What better example of honor and morality can be offered in these troubled times? Thank you, wise Commander! Thank you!
But this morning comes news from the Associated Press that would cause even the bitterest Bush-bashing dissident to hang his head in shame at the injustice being done to the Commander-in-Chief's sterling reputation as a man of honor. AP tells us that one of the military policemen who helped beat a prisoner to death in Bagram has been given exemplary punishment by a U.S. military court. Yes, for his direct role in "pulpifying" the legs of a chained and helpless prisoner, who died of a pulmonary embolism caused by blood clots formed from the beatings, Specialist Brian E. Cammack has been slapped with...a three-month sentence.
Obviously, such stern retribution sends a clear message throughout the Bush Administration's entire system of compassionate conservative concentration camps. And that message is: If by some freak chance your torture duties are exposed, you will be gently removed from the scene with nominal punishment -- as long as you don't rat out your superiors, of course.
What better example of honor and morality can be offered in these troubled times? Thank you, wise Commander! Thank you!
Friday, May 20, 2005
Tears of Rage, Tears of Grief: A Nation Brought Low
In U.S. Report, Brutal Details of 2 Afghan Inmates' Deaths.
The unspeakable brutality detailed in this story stems directly -- absolutely directly -- from George W. Bush himself. It is George W. Bush who lifted the protection of the Geneva Conventions from all those he has rounded up in his "war on terror," including the literally thousands of innocent people (as confirmed by the Red Cross) devoured by his gulag. It is George W. Bush -- this sniveling, smirking, shirking little coward, this cosseted little pipsqueak trying to prove his manhood with macho bluster and aggressive war -- who is directly responsible for establishing this world-wide system of inhuman degradation and pig-ignorant bullying. It is his direct orders, his implications, his rhetoric and his will -- passed down along the entire chain of command -- that have instigated these crimes, these bloody stains on the national honor. Yet who among the high command -- from Rumsfeld on down -- has resigned in protest over these outrages? No one. They are all complicit, they have all played "cover your ass," passing the buck, and the blame, down to the lower ranks. And these lower ranks they have perverted with a relentless drumbeat of hate-speech and propaganda, deliberately fomenting a thirst for revenge that sweeps up every single Muslim in its blind wrath.
If you are an American with even one drop of genuine love for the country in your soul, you cannot read this story without shedding "tears of rage, tears of grief," in Bob Dylan's haunting words. What have they done to us, these snarling apes in their thousand-dollar suits? What have they done to us, these sanctimonious killers, mouthing the name of God through teeth flecked with human guts?
What quadrant of hell is hot enough for such men?
The unspeakable brutality detailed in this story stems directly -- absolutely directly -- from George W. Bush himself. It is George W. Bush who lifted the protection of the Geneva Conventions from all those he has rounded up in his "war on terror," including the literally thousands of innocent people (as confirmed by the Red Cross) devoured by his gulag. It is George W. Bush -- this sniveling, smirking, shirking little coward, this cosseted little pipsqueak trying to prove his manhood with macho bluster and aggressive war -- who is directly responsible for establishing this world-wide system of inhuman degradation and pig-ignorant bullying. It is his direct orders, his implications, his rhetoric and his will -- passed down along the entire chain of command -- that have instigated these crimes, these bloody stains on the national honor. Yet who among the high command -- from Rumsfeld on down -- has resigned in protest over these outrages? No one. They are all complicit, they have all played "cover your ass," passing the buck, and the blame, down to the lower ranks. And these lower ranks they have perverted with a relentless drumbeat of hate-speech and propaganda, deliberately fomenting a thirst for revenge that sweeps up every single Muslim in its blind wrath.
If you are an American with even one drop of genuine love for the country in your soul, you cannot read this story without shedding "tears of rage, tears of grief," in Bob Dylan's haunting words. What have they done to us, these snarling apes in their thousand-dollar suits? What have they done to us, these sanctimonious killers, mouthing the name of God through teeth flecked with human guts?
What quadrant of hell is hot enough for such men?
Motion Sickness: Entrails and Empty Shells in the Bush Imperium
Published in The Moscow Times, May 20, 2005.
They keep going through the motions in Washington, much like the Roman Senate used to meet in solemn conclave and pretend that their flatulent oratory had some effect on the real engines of imperial power. Today, Congressional factions strive in fierce agon over profound Constitutional issues – filibusters, judicial review, church and state, executive privilege. Commentators knit their brows in sage analysis of these world-historical events, while activists choose their champions and drive them on with partisan heat. Yet none of it means a thing.
The U.S. Congress gave away its powers long ago to corporate interests and the almighty executive branch that every legislator secretly hopes to lead one day, Pentagon thunderbolts in hand. (Who would curb Caesar who might Caesar be?) This "degradation of the democratic dogma" has been the work of more than 50 years of bipartisan goonery, but it has now reached its nadir in the festering pit of blood and bile that is the Bush Regime.
American public life is now almost entirely a façade, a deadening – and deadly – sideshow: the multibillion-dollar electoral circuses, the increasingly frenzied "culture wars, the epic clash of interest groups across the media battlefields, the endless making, unmaking and remaking of laws. This non-signifying sound and fury merely obscures the ugly reality: that there are no effective restraints on the arbitrary exercise of power by the imperial court of George W. Bush.
He can wage aggressive war based on lies. He can order the assassination of anyone on earth, anywhere, at any time, without trial, without evidence, at his unchallengeable whim, as we've often detailed here. He can set up torture chambers all over the globe. He can dole out countless billions of public dollars to corporate cronies in no-bid contracts. There is no punishment for these crimes, no political price paid for this corruption, no genuine resistance at all to this rape of liberty from the very institutions and civic structures being ravaged.
What's more, a great many of "the people" also embrace – even celebrate – this brutal reality. It is not at all true, as some progressives would contend, that there is some kind of collective goodness in "just plain folks," some magical kernel of broad-minded, open-hearted, democratic wisdom just waiting to be tapped if only "the people" could be freed from the bedevilling lies of their wicked leaders. Most lies succeed because people want to believe them.
This is doubly true in politics. Not only history but also our own daily experience shows us that those in power (or those seeking power) routinely lie, shuffle, deceive and manipulate. Nothing they say can be taken simply on faith; it must be met with stringent skepticism, examined in the harshest light. This has proved true in every single human society, without fail, throughout all recorded time. Yet millions of people willingly, happily swallow the most blatant political lies at face value. They have no wish to be undeceived, and lose the illusions of their own specialness, their own righteousness, their exalted place in the world. If there must be violence to maintain this place, if someone out there must die, if someone must starve, if someone must wail, then so be it. If the truth convicts us, undermines us, discomforts us, then let the truth be changed. This is the unspoken credo of vast swathes of "the people." Leaders play upon this, they encourage it and prosper by it – but they don't create it out of whole cloth.
This literally unspeakable situation accounts for much of the strange hollowness and sense of dislocation that pervades political life today. Leaders can't possibly say what they really mean or tell the whole truth about their policies, which rest ultimately on violence, corruption, suffering and fear. Nor do their followers want to hear the truth. The pious masks required to hide such unmitigated greed for loot and power thus become more outlandish, more cartoonish. That's why the maskers (and the "just plain folks" who support them) strive ever more ruthlessly to suppress or discredit all dissent – they know that honest skepticism could destroy their ludicrous fraud.
In Iraq, for example, the war criminals of the Coalition cannot possibly admit that they are killing, torturing, and despoiling innocent people in order to maintain and extend their own geopolitical dominance. Bush cannot possibly say, "I tore the eyeballs from that little girl's skull, I churned that woman's entrails with steel splinters, I sodomized that teenage boy and smeared him with his own filth to make a few of my cronies rich and keep the rubes out there fat and happy with big cars, cheap gas and 37 different brands of corn chips" – although that's exactly what he's doing. He can't say, "We know Iraq posed no threat to us but we wanted to invade them anyway, so we 'fixed the facts and intelligence around the policy'" – although that's exactly what was revealed in the just-leaked "Downing Street memo," the record of a 2002 strategy session between Tony Blair and his advisers following top-level talks in Washington.
No, such undermining truths wouldn't do at all. Instead, we get first the implausible lies about WMD and now the laughable cant about a "noble mission" to bring democracy to the "dark places of the earth." This while Bush succors Islam Karimov even as the Uzbek despot massacres his own people and runs a regime several magnitudes worse than the factions recently overthrown – with copious U.S. assistance – in Georgia and Ukraine.
And so the imperial engines grind on, untouched, untroubled, unrestrained, churning the world's entrails behind the façade.
Chris Floyd
* Links and annotations for this column can be found here.*
They keep going through the motions in Washington, much like the Roman Senate used to meet in solemn conclave and pretend that their flatulent oratory had some effect on the real engines of imperial power. Today, Congressional factions strive in fierce agon over profound Constitutional issues – filibusters, judicial review, church and state, executive privilege. Commentators knit their brows in sage analysis of these world-historical events, while activists choose their champions and drive them on with partisan heat. Yet none of it means a thing.
The U.S. Congress gave away its powers long ago to corporate interests and the almighty executive branch that every legislator secretly hopes to lead one day, Pentagon thunderbolts in hand. (Who would curb Caesar who might Caesar be?) This "degradation of the democratic dogma" has been the work of more than 50 years of bipartisan goonery, but it has now reached its nadir in the festering pit of blood and bile that is the Bush Regime.
American public life is now almost entirely a façade, a deadening – and deadly – sideshow: the multibillion-dollar electoral circuses, the increasingly frenzied "culture wars, the epic clash of interest groups across the media battlefields, the endless making, unmaking and remaking of laws. This non-signifying sound and fury merely obscures the ugly reality: that there are no effective restraints on the arbitrary exercise of power by the imperial court of George W. Bush.
He can wage aggressive war based on lies. He can order the assassination of anyone on earth, anywhere, at any time, without trial, without evidence, at his unchallengeable whim, as we've often detailed here. He can set up torture chambers all over the globe. He can dole out countless billions of public dollars to corporate cronies in no-bid contracts. There is no punishment for these crimes, no political price paid for this corruption, no genuine resistance at all to this rape of liberty from the very institutions and civic structures being ravaged.
What's more, a great many of "the people" also embrace – even celebrate – this brutal reality. It is not at all true, as some progressives would contend, that there is some kind of collective goodness in "just plain folks," some magical kernel of broad-minded, open-hearted, democratic wisdom just waiting to be tapped if only "the people" could be freed from the bedevilling lies of their wicked leaders. Most lies succeed because people want to believe them.
This is doubly true in politics. Not only history but also our own daily experience shows us that those in power (or those seeking power) routinely lie, shuffle, deceive and manipulate. Nothing they say can be taken simply on faith; it must be met with stringent skepticism, examined in the harshest light. This has proved true in every single human society, without fail, throughout all recorded time. Yet millions of people willingly, happily swallow the most blatant political lies at face value. They have no wish to be undeceived, and lose the illusions of their own specialness, their own righteousness, their exalted place in the world. If there must be violence to maintain this place, if someone out there must die, if someone must starve, if someone must wail, then so be it. If the truth convicts us, undermines us, discomforts us, then let the truth be changed. This is the unspoken credo of vast swathes of "the people." Leaders play upon this, they encourage it and prosper by it – but they don't create it out of whole cloth.
This literally unspeakable situation accounts for much of the strange hollowness and sense of dislocation that pervades political life today. Leaders can't possibly say what they really mean or tell the whole truth about their policies, which rest ultimately on violence, corruption, suffering and fear. Nor do their followers want to hear the truth. The pious masks required to hide such unmitigated greed for loot and power thus become more outlandish, more cartoonish. That's why the maskers (and the "just plain folks" who support them) strive ever more ruthlessly to suppress or discredit all dissent – they know that honest skepticism could destroy their ludicrous fraud.
In Iraq, for example, the war criminals of the Coalition cannot possibly admit that they are killing, torturing, and despoiling innocent people in order to maintain and extend their own geopolitical dominance. Bush cannot possibly say, "I tore the eyeballs from that little girl's skull, I churned that woman's entrails with steel splinters, I sodomized that teenage boy and smeared him with his own filth to make a few of my cronies rich and keep the rubes out there fat and happy with big cars, cheap gas and 37 different brands of corn chips" – although that's exactly what he's doing. He can't say, "We know Iraq posed no threat to us but we wanted to invade them anyway, so we 'fixed the facts and intelligence around the policy'" – although that's exactly what was revealed in the just-leaked "Downing Street memo," the record of a 2002 strategy session between Tony Blair and his advisers following top-level talks in Washington.
No, such undermining truths wouldn't do at all. Instead, we get first the implausible lies about WMD and now the laughable cant about a "noble mission" to bring democracy to the "dark places of the earth." This while Bush succors Islam Karimov even as the Uzbek despot massacres his own people and runs a regime several magnitudes worse than the factions recently overthrown – with copious U.S. assistance – in Georgia and Ukraine.
And so the imperial engines grind on, untouched, untroubled, unrestrained, churning the world's entrails behind the façade.
Chris Floyd
* Links and annotations for this column can be found here.*
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Profiles in Cowardice
Once again, Greg Palast nails the case, this time on Newsweek's craven climbdown. A couple of choice bits:
"And just for the record: Newsweek, unlike Rumsfeld, did not kill anyone -- nor did its report cause killings. Afghans protested when they heard the Koran desecration story (as Christians have protested crucifix desecrations). The Muslim demonstrators were gunned down by the Afghan military police -- who operate under Rumsfeld's command."
"Was there a problem with the story? Certainly. If you want to split hairs, the inside-government source of the Koran desecration story now says he can't confirm which military report it appeared in. But he saw it in one report and a witness has confirmed that the Koran was defiled. Of course, there's an easy way to get at the truth. RELEASE THE REPORTS NOW. Hand them over, Mr. Rumsfeld, and let's see for ourselves what's in them.But Newsweek and the Post are too polite to ask Rumsfeld to make the investigative reports public."
"And just for the record: Newsweek, unlike Rumsfeld, did not kill anyone -- nor did its report cause killings. Afghans protested when they heard the Koran desecration story (as Christians have protested crucifix desecrations). The Muslim demonstrators were gunned down by the Afghan military police -- who operate under Rumsfeld's command."
"Was there a problem with the story? Certainly. If you want to split hairs, the inside-government source of the Koran desecration story now says he can't confirm which military report it appeared in. But he saw it in one report and a witness has confirmed that the Koran was defiled. Of course, there's an easy way to get at the truth. RELEASE THE REPORTS NOW. Hand them over, Mr. Rumsfeld, and let's see for ourselves what's in them.But Newsweek and the Post are too polite to ask Rumsfeld to make the investigative reports public."
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Justice in Jebworld: Florida Jury Issues Stern Rebuke to Bush Family Values
A few days ago, we reported here about Jeb Bush's attempt to crush the life of an abused 6-year-old girl in his Florida satrapy. State officials had gone to court to cut off public assistance to Marissa Amora, who, at the age of 2, had been abandoned by Jeb's "Department of Families and Children" despite overwhelming evidence of horrific past abuse and the dire risk of more to come. More came, of course; she was beaten almost to death -- and then Jeb's minions tried to pull the plug on her and let her die. She survived, has thrived, has a new family - but still suffers from permanent, catastrophic damage from the entirely predictable beating she received after the DCF cast her aside.
There was a new development in the case this week, and -- for the moment -- it's wonderful news. The jury in the case found in Marissa's favor, awarding her $35 million for her suffering and, more importantly, for her future care, the Palm Beach Post reports. The DCF has been ordered to pay the bulk of the award.
An unusual triumph for justice and compassion in Jebworld, certainly. But there are still some roadblocks on the way to a happy ending, however. As we all know, the Bush Family are ferocious proponents of "tort reform" – i.e., protecting powerful entities from paying for their crimes. Thus Jeb's satrapy has a law limiting damage awards against the DCF to $100,000 per person or $200,000 per incident. For Marissa to receive the full amount from DCF awarded by the jury, the Bushist-controlled state legislature must pass a special law. This cumbersome process offers ample opportunity for Jeb to chisel down the award or weasel out of it altogether. And of course, the agency could always appeal the verdict, dragging out the case – and the suffering and anxiety of Marissa's family – for months, even years.
If Marissa's case had garnered even one-tenth of the national media attention larded on the partisan hokum of the Teri Schiavo carnival, Jeb would be feeling too much political heat to try to beat the rap. But of course there was no mention of the story in the national media at all. And here we see a tragic conundrum in American public life today: those who honestly care about "nobodies" like Marissa -- the poor, the dispossessed, the abandoned, the "insulted and injured," in Dostoevsky's phrase -- are too honorable to exploit them for crass partisan gain...and too busy trying to alleviate their suffering to waste time and energy on media campaigns. But ruthless operators like Jeb Bush, Tom DeLay and the whole sick crew of Bushists are more than willing to hype a case to the skies if they see some political advantage in it -- and equally willing to flush people down the drain if they can't make use of them.
But for now, it's good news, a rare victory for human decency in a harsh, inhuman time.
There was a new development in the case this week, and -- for the moment -- it's wonderful news. The jury in the case found in Marissa's favor, awarding her $35 million for her suffering and, more importantly, for her future care, the Palm Beach Post reports. The DCF has been ordered to pay the bulk of the award.
An unusual triumph for justice and compassion in Jebworld, certainly. But there are still some roadblocks on the way to a happy ending, however. As we all know, the Bush Family are ferocious proponents of "tort reform" – i.e., protecting powerful entities from paying for their crimes. Thus Jeb's satrapy has a law limiting damage awards against the DCF to $100,000 per person or $200,000 per incident. For Marissa to receive the full amount from DCF awarded by the jury, the Bushist-controlled state legislature must pass a special law. This cumbersome process offers ample opportunity for Jeb to chisel down the award or weasel out of it altogether. And of course, the agency could always appeal the verdict, dragging out the case – and the suffering and anxiety of Marissa's family – for months, even years.
If Marissa's case had garnered even one-tenth of the national media attention larded on the partisan hokum of the Teri Schiavo carnival, Jeb would be feeling too much political heat to try to beat the rap. But of course there was no mention of the story in the national media at all. And here we see a tragic conundrum in American public life today: those who honestly care about "nobodies" like Marissa -- the poor, the dispossessed, the abandoned, the "insulted and injured," in Dostoevsky's phrase -- are too honorable to exploit them for crass partisan gain...and too busy trying to alleviate their suffering to waste time and energy on media campaigns. But ruthless operators like Jeb Bush, Tom DeLay and the whole sick crew of Bushists are more than willing to hype a case to the skies if they see some political advantage in it -- and equally willing to flush people down the drain if they can't make use of them.
But for now, it's good news, a rare victory for human decency in a harsh, inhuman time.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Occupational Hazards
Japan Today reports that 24,000 people formed a human chain around a U.S. military base in Okinawa last Sunday, demanding an end to 60 years of military occupation.
Below, Chalmers Johnson has more on the occupation of Okinawa, and the brutalizing and corrupting effect of America's plantation of military colonies around the world.
Three Rapes: The Status of Forces Agreement and Okinawa. (Via TomDispatch.com)
Below, Chalmers Johnson has more on the occupation of Okinawa, and the brutalizing and corrupting effect of America's plantation of military colonies around the world.
Three Rapes: The Status of Forces Agreement and Okinawa. (Via TomDispatch.com)
All-Day Permanent Red
From Knight-Ridder (far and away the best mainstream journalism service in America today), a good look at the bloody chaos that Bush's war of aggression has visited on the people of Iraq, who are now getting it in the neck from every conceivable direction:
Marine-led campaign killed friends and foes, Iraqi leaders say.
Marine-led campaign killed friends and foes, Iraqi leaders say.
Structural Difficulties
As always, Greg Palast has the goods. Below, he reveals the real reason for the Bush Regime's attacks on Ecuador's new president, the mild-mannered, pro-American heart doctor, Alfredo Palacio. (Attacks seconded by the faithful spear-carriers at the New York Times, now busy turning the conservative Palacio into the second coming of Hugo Che Fidel Zapata Chavez.) The answer, of course, as always with the Bushists, is -- oil and investments.
You should read the whole piece, but here's a prime nugget that Palast unearthed: a secret codicil from the World Bank's "structural adjustment" loan to the poverty-stricken nation in 2002. First, some background:
"This nation of only 13 million souls at the world's belly button is rich, sitting on 4.4 billion barrels of known oil reserves, and probably much more. Yet 60 percent of its citizens live in brutal poverty; a lucky minority earn the 'minimum' wage of $153 a month."
And now the World Bank's draconian terms:
"The secret loan terms require Ecuador to pay bondholders 70 percent of the revenue received from any spike in the price of oil. The result: Ecuador must give up the big bucks from the Iraq War oil price surge. Another 20 percent of the oil windfall is set aside for 'contingencies' (i.e., later payments to bondholders). The document specifies that Ecuador may keep only 10 percent of new oil revenue for expenditures on social services."
A sweet deal for dabblers in national debt -- 90 percent of the gravy for the investment class, dregs for the useless rabble. But surely the World Bank will no longer pursue such hateful and harmful policies, now that it's in the hands of that great humanitarian -- Paul Wolfowitz.
Ecuador Gets Chávez'd, by Greg Palast.
You should read the whole piece, but here's a prime nugget that Palast unearthed: a secret codicil from the World Bank's "structural adjustment" loan to the poverty-stricken nation in 2002. First, some background:
"This nation of only 13 million souls at the world's belly button is rich, sitting on 4.4 billion barrels of known oil reserves, and probably much more. Yet 60 percent of its citizens live in brutal poverty; a lucky minority earn the 'minimum' wage of $153 a month."
And now the World Bank's draconian terms:
"The secret loan terms require Ecuador to pay bondholders 70 percent of the revenue received from any spike in the price of oil. The result: Ecuador must give up the big bucks from the Iraq War oil price surge. Another 20 percent of the oil windfall is set aside for 'contingencies' (i.e., later payments to bondholders). The document specifies that Ecuador may keep only 10 percent of new oil revenue for expenditures on social services."
A sweet deal for dabblers in national debt -- 90 percent of the gravy for the investment class, dregs for the useless rabble. But surely the World Bank will no longer pursue such hateful and harmful policies, now that it's in the hands of that great humanitarian -- Paul Wolfowitz.
Ecuador Gets Chávez'd, by Greg Palast.
Monday, May 16, 2005
The Smoking Gun of the Smoking Gun
Below, Mark Danner provides one of the best examinations of the "Downing Street Memo" -- the "smoking gun" which proves (or rather confirms a mountain of other, long-known evidence) that Bush's war crime in Iraq was based on deliberate, carefully-calibrated deception. It is of course being buried or ignored by the mainstream American press; the Bushists have not deigned to comment on it; and Tony Blair airily dismissed it as "old news" even as it peeled away even more voters from his crumbling plurality. But for anyone who wants the truth, it is now out there -- again -- as plain as day, so stark and simple that even the thickest dullard (e.g., Tom "Noble Cause" Friedman) can understand it.
Danner's piece comes via the estimable Tom Engelhardt at TomDispatch.com.
Secret Way to War, by Mark Danner
Danner's piece comes via the estimable Tom Engelhardt at TomDispatch.com.
Secret Way to War, by Mark Danner
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