As fear of economic collapse spreads, those calling themselves survivalists get listened to by more and more Americans. Ironically the hippies used to talk about survival by going back to the organic farm.
Today no one is publicly gathering potatoes and sprouts. Instead many are advocating hoarding gold which isn’t good for the money circulating, and actually in a truly desperate world, some buried bags of Raw Potatoes could be more fluid as a currency substitute than, a buried sack of Gold Coins.
Click read more for rest of article
People urging survivalist tactics could be wrong in other areas as well, but as usual only the right-wing is doing any arguing, so they keep winning the oral argument by default. Imagine 40 year ago, no earmarks and big guns being in the same package.
Today so-called survivalists not those dropping out mention that the dollar and euro are close to collapse. They urge besides guns and guard dogs a generator and a water distiller, and a hoard of prepackaged dried foods.
In a real disaster guard dogs will be shot and eaten, and no mater how big one’s gun you still need some sleep.
Why not along with one’s neighbors refill as many empty plastic bottles as possible, sprout seeds, and grow and bury potatoes. Medieval farmers had potatoes no matter how many self-appointed, tax collecting armies passed through.
In the last days of the Bush years things began collapsing, Obama chose to be a mediator, not a blamer, at first accomplishing wonders until he began to inherit the blame for things not being the way they should be.
Mayors can plant potatoes. Philadelphia (a Democratic island in a now Republican state) is particularly venerable for hard times. And now has a casino that services almost exclusively the poor. People without any money in their pocket, at all, don’t go the supermarket, and a usually honest person even if not caught might feel embarrassed to go back to the local store where they stole a peanut butter cracker. Urban gardens already encouraged by the city might start growing potatoes. Over sized pots in your windowsill or yard, will make the robbers know, despite being healthy, you likely don’t have pouches of plastic-wrapped dried food that is easy to haul away. Sidewalk grass could be gardens. The next stimulus should be stipends for urban gardens, since in an emergency they will feed the neighborhood whether they want to or not, except for the potatoes since only the planter knows when and exactly where to dig, and anyone desperate enough to randomly dig wouldn’t be in any condition to wait for any they find to cook, or bake.
Of course an intruder rather than barter could rob one of their sprouts, but since thieves tend to be lazy or totally desperate, haling away seeds and plastic storage bins is not likely instead a thief might plan to come by for more spouts later, and have to worry about the sprouts being poisoned if he pushed to hard. And as I said before potatoes are stable enough to substitute as currency.
Obama keeps preaching hope for a better world. Gore spread grim predictions while being part of an inspiring ecological campaign where individuals planted a tree, and ads glorified kids picking up litter. Churchill also inspired by talking about a grim world. Note Churchill’s inspirational book was titled, “Blood, Sweat and Tears”. President Obama stop the prosperity oriented happy talk! Like Gore, talk of the grim times ahead!
Besides predictions of a bright economic prospect repeatedly letting people down, Guantanamo not closing like Obama said he would, saps the strength of those who conclude that there is no way for ordinary folk to have their opinions heard. However, the day Obama announced plans to close Guantanamo, al Qaeda claimed a new head of al Qaeda of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, a convicted terrorist who was involved in the bombing of the Cole He earlier was granted amnesty by Yemen in return for apologizing for terrorism, and picking his own words to affirm that Prophet Mohammad doesn’t condone attacking non military targets. If the US government had exposed he was a figurehead pressured into it by al Qaeda, he could have been turned into a remotely-detonated suicide bomb. Others could be cornered as well. There is a bloodbath of Awakening Council members in Iraq of the ones refusing to make amends with al Qaeda. Obama’s problem in closing Guantanamo is not lack of will, almost anyone who was at Guantanamo could at knife point claim on the Internet to be an al Qaeda leader.
France declared war against al Qaeda in Mali building up from when it tried to rescue instead of paying ransom for French citizens held hostage. Bin Laden personally threatened to blow up the Eiffle Tower and other targets. Bin Laden is confident that victory will eventually be his since with his help the US is bankrupting itself. If Obama were to announce we are now withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and a hostage was seized some Americans would go out of their minds in anger. Conservatives. As far as showing weakness, defense spending at a bankrupting rate is a show of weakness. But it’s not yet checkmate for America.
I would like to thank Warren Buffet and the 44 millionaires who signed a pledge opposing the tax-cut extension. Under Eisenhower the tax rate on the rich was 91% then though the years it went down to the thirties. As there are more and more millionaires as the economy crumbles some hope for revolution. There won’t be revolution as long as those who don’t want it can foment hate between ethic groups like they have between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. However a touch of what Cuba has the world needs, to keep the rich at bay.
For free health care people can go to Cuba. If the government would allow Americans to take 10% of their medicare, medicaid, and prescription reimbursement with them or 10% of any welfare payments with them to Cuba, Cuba would put up with the influx of sick people even if they got less than 10% of what US hospitals get. Some Social Security recipients used to retire in cheaper Mexico taking the burden off of medicare, but crime is got in the way of more retiring there. We must cut medical costs, and health care overseas can help.
Manufacturing jobs are gone, the Internet hires toward the lowest paid parts of the world, TV monitors can be watched from overseas replacing some security guards and quality control experts without union or worker actions. An exception to the economic downturn is Australia where nevertheless unemployment is extremely high.
Obama please stop talking of economic recovery any time soon, instead like al Gore and Churchill inspire hope that America continues to function.
Meanwhile if we started taking Survivalism in a collective way, and a non-combative way, our own neighborhood could survive even if many things are going wrong elsewhere in the world. The right-wing now owns the code words that used to belong to the hippies. I believe that who owns the code words is more important than most realize.
In a previous article,
http://richardkanepa.blogspot.com/2011/01/obama-vs-churchill-blood-sweat-and.html
I had more detail of ways municipalities and individuals could save costs by way of the Internet, One’s insurance company or even state welfare departments could encourage overseas operations and prescription renewal, a few have but googleing organ donor transplants soured my interest,
RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
by Richard Kane
Read more!
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Monday, December 27, 2010
Can the US get out of a hopeless corner?
Winston Churchill is said to have preached “Blood, Sweat and Tears” though the recorded quote is slightly different then the way it’s remembered. Obama, just as inspiring an orator, preaches “Hope”. Both started out equally successful in inspiring people.
This threat was extremely grim back when Churchill inspired. We have different dangers. Manufacturing jobs are gone. The Internet prefers hiring from the lower or lowest paid parts of the world. On the Internet there are no unions or worker’s protests to make working condition better. Telephoning, bookkeeping, and some secretarial work and many security guards and quality control experts, can be replaced by TV monitors being viewed from across the ocean. The whole developed Western world is in stress, and one of the exceptions is ominous. The Australian economy is booming but with very high unemployment.
Somehow we have to set our sights on economic survival, rather than hope for the prosperous America we once knew returning any time soon. Obama constantly dances and negotiates to stop a steep decline. His input in the begriming slowed the decline considerably, though some thinkers think only delayed it. Recently a two-year tax cut exception for the well off in exchange for an economic stimulus for 13 months, means he is losing ground.
More and more people are wanting and voting for quick fixes, not only the no taxes for the rich crowd that wants the US to boom the way Australia is. Ron Paul says our problems are caused by the Fed. He is important because he is one of the few people talking about the decline seriously, besides those advocating hoarding guns supplies and/or gold. If the Fed is the problem then why are countries without a Federal Reserve System also hurting which doesn’t necessarily mean ending the Federal Reserve System might not be an improvement.
He also says we got to stay out of the world’s problems. An example of what would happen if we did this is to note where this was done. President Bush decided not to attack pirates in Somalia, after Bin Laden threatened suicide-bombs if we did. Piracy got out of hand, Italy finally took charge sending out the gunboats to capture pirates. Then a US ship captain ended up in a lifeboat with pirates, after one of the passengers stabbed a pirate. They phoned in their ransom demands from the lifeboat which weren’t being met. When it seemed they were about to kill him, US special forces shot the pirates. No one would say the US shouldn’t have saved the hostage’s life. But now the US is back in the pirate fighting like we were in the 17th century. In one incident, paratroopers in phone contact with the crew swooped down and arrested the pirates without anyone getting hurt, far more expensive than the Italian method of fighting them. If somehow the US end its involvement in the Afghan War, and let the Afghan Government and the Taliban negotiate or fight as they will, there will similar situations like with the pirates that could easily get us involved again. The financial drain ending if a cut off date is firmly announced is not the end of the story.
The US has almost no involvement since 2004 in stopping al Qaeda in North East Africa sent money or special forces to fight al Qaeda in Northeast Africa in Mali. When French citizens were held for ransom, France decided to attack instead of paying. Bin Laden threatened huge attacks of France, which has yet to happen. Google “France Declares War against al Qaeda”. Even if al Qaeda did succeed at say destroying the Eiffel Tower, or even parliament, France wouldn’t start aiding bin Laden’s effort to bankrupt the West.
Al Qaeda has killed far more Sufi Muslims than they did Americans on 9/11. All the lives of the Awakening Council, those Sunnis that changed sides to fight with the Americans in Iraq, are in grave danger. Somehow we got to figure out the right way to be involved, not how to stop being involved. If we leave in a hurry without a peace treaty some will try to flee including those women in Kabul who took off the burka. Probably far less dead bodies then year after year of war, but the press will be focused on any show trials, not all the lives saved in the long run. And there will be future provocations from al Qaeda such as the rest of the world is experiencing, with many Americans more angry at the President if he didn’t respond to the provocation than if US troops were still there. We need different responses to threats and crises.
I am going to risk going back to President Bush overthrowing Saddam. Vietnam likewise overthrew Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge bloodbath in Cambodia and no one is complaining. Vietnam had no more right to do this than the US with Saddam. But Vietnam didn’t engage in “shock and awe” and nation building. Karzai may be corrupt but not below international standards, so the US has no business acting like we are in charge of him.
I would like to see France or Russia mediate the dispute between the US and the Taliban. Afghan President Karzai already begged the Saudis, Iran and China to do so.
The above is off the subject except those claiming Obama is bought off by the military or part of a plot by the rich not to set a firm cutoff date to withdraw, totally misses the difficulties involved and helps people to fall for such theories as ending taxes will end the economic slump.
People need to get involved more with solving the economic crisis, like ordinary individuals involved with fighting global warming.
The following are suggestions that might get people thinking about getting involved in more ways than stopping the fed, demonstrating, or hoarding.
Since money not circulating is part of the cause of economic stagnation or downturn, one partial solution would be for the rich to be taxed less when they spend their money then when they save it. This is already part of the theory behind tax deductions, but talking about it might improve the process. If some of the rich insist on working toward no taxes for the rich, than rather than tax cut extensions, it would be better for more deduction even 100% deductions for money spent on charity or employee intensive projects. Perhaps Congress could junk the tax compromise bill in favor of real job stimulus tax laws.
Come on everyone join me! We are like a family riding a car with bald tires with most of the family trying not to think about it. One wanting to switch to bicycles, another to stop and stay where they are, but the rest of the family resigned to continue the drive without anyone managing to get new tires.
Now for some more suggestions to fight the drift toward collapse. Iceland is being bailed out by Europe, but it has the lowest business taxes in the world, therefore many companies make their corporate headquarters there. Raising the business tax could made be a condition for more aid. Then the US and Europe together raise the business tax to stop capital flight to where the taxes are lowest. Next the US and Europe could get together to end the loophole of offshore banking.
There were efforts with some state governments to get prescriptions filled in Canada and elsewhere. This can save a lot of money on medical costs, perhaps even individuals can get 5% kick back from insurance, or medicare if they get refills on the Internet. Maybe everyone’s second and future monthly repeated prescription purchases could be bought on the Internet and mailed to patients, by their insurance company, medicare, and perhaps even welfare officials. This, providing there is a way of making sure what they get is quality medicine. Of course that is a big if.
The US embargo on Cuba is hurting the US economically and the more it succeeds the more Cubans in this country send foreign aid back to their relatives in Cuba. Some Americans took their Social Security check to Mexico where everything is cheaper and the US saved money on medicare and medicaid, but crime is getting in the way of new arrivals. Crime-free Cuba would be a perfect place to retire and no more medicare costs and if red tape is cut close enough for easy visits back to the US.
If the US would grant 10% of Medicare, Medicaid, SSI and welfare benefits to those going overseas, Americans in Cuba would make money from the US whenever they got sick until Cuba changed its laws to charge that amount to foreigners seeking medical care in otherwise free health care Cuba. Then the 10% adjusted up and down to the lowest point Americans would seek and get medical care overseas. Some hospitals in the US, on an experimental effort, are trying to get robots to give bedridden patients baths and to feed them, with alarms temporarily to call a human nurse if the patient starts to resist or argue with each other. It would be far more humane for sick persons to seek medical nursing care where it’s cheap rather than a future in the US where machines, not people, treat the convalescent. One way or another, a lot of money is being saved by having medical procedures done in other countries of the world, see “medical tourism” also “online pharmacies Wikipedia”, and,
www.medicaldiscounts.com/employers_insurance.htm
Perhaps others could join me in suggestions to have a campaign against economic depression, like the campaign against global warming. As with picking up litter, many citizens and many employers could agree to hire, one new neighbor or employee to do one hour’s more worth of work for them, with an ad campaign similar to the pick up litter campaign. If it wasn’t for the spirit generated by the ecology movement, picking up liter or planting a tree for a healthy environment might seem ridiculous. If we get in the spirit of hiring a friend for one hour more of work will start us feeling we are doing something. And if it gets in the way of people jumping at the straw that tax cuts, for the well off, will save the economy it will at least stop things from getting worse in a hurry. Let’s get together to save our economic world. Post your own suggestions here or post this to sites those making other suggestions.
By Richard Kane
RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
Maybe off the subject, I for one was really mad at what I saw as the conniving ruthlessness of the first George Bush and President Reagan, and felt that the son’s bugling around gave progressive change some breathing room. In my mind we were far closer to a dictatorship under Reagan than since. The last President Bush reached out to Muslims to join his faith-based initiatives, and constantly praised the King of Jordan and the Saudis. Anyway I have trouble seeing a scenario where Obama would be replaced by someone better, and think it more likely, if replaced, it will be by someone far worse than the second George Bush. I for one supported Obama, but far from worshiped him, expecting him to fail, by being sabotaged the way Jimmy Carter was.
But Obama’s term isn’t over. I expect him at some point to salvage some of the situation by calling for blood, sweat and tears. If Obama is replaced will likely be replaced by someone who plays on hatred of immigrants and other polarizing trends.
Read more!
This threat was extremely grim back when Churchill inspired. We have different dangers. Manufacturing jobs are gone. The Internet prefers hiring from the lower or lowest paid parts of the world. On the Internet there are no unions or worker’s protests to make working condition better. Telephoning, bookkeeping, and some secretarial work and many security guards and quality control experts, can be replaced by TV monitors being viewed from across the ocean. The whole developed Western world is in stress, and one of the exceptions is ominous. The Australian economy is booming but with very high unemployment.
Somehow we have to set our sights on economic survival, rather than hope for the prosperous America we once knew returning any time soon. Obama constantly dances and negotiates to stop a steep decline. His input in the begriming slowed the decline considerably, though some thinkers think only delayed it. Recently a two-year tax cut exception for the well off in exchange for an economic stimulus for 13 months, means he is losing ground.
More and more people are wanting and voting for quick fixes, not only the no taxes for the rich crowd that wants the US to boom the way Australia is. Ron Paul says our problems are caused by the Fed. He is important because he is one of the few people talking about the decline seriously, besides those advocating hoarding guns supplies and/or gold. If the Fed is the problem then why are countries without a Federal Reserve System also hurting which doesn’t necessarily mean ending the Federal Reserve System might not be an improvement.
He also says we got to stay out of the world’s problems. An example of what would happen if we did this is to note where this was done. President Bush decided not to attack pirates in Somalia, after Bin Laden threatened suicide-bombs if we did. Piracy got out of hand, Italy finally took charge sending out the gunboats to capture pirates. Then a US ship captain ended up in a lifeboat with pirates, after one of the passengers stabbed a pirate. They phoned in their ransom demands from the lifeboat which weren’t being met. When it seemed they were about to kill him, US special forces shot the pirates. No one would say the US shouldn’t have saved the hostage’s life. But now the US is back in the pirate fighting like we were in the 17th century. In one incident, paratroopers in phone contact with the crew swooped down and arrested the pirates without anyone getting hurt, far more expensive than the Italian method of fighting them. If somehow the US end its involvement in the Afghan War, and let the Afghan Government and the Taliban negotiate or fight as they will, there will similar situations like with the pirates that could easily get us involved again. The financial drain ending if a cut off date is firmly announced is not the end of the story.
The US has almost no involvement since 2004 in stopping al Qaeda in North East Africa sent money or special forces to fight al Qaeda in Northeast Africa in Mali. When French citizens were held for ransom, France decided to attack instead of paying. Bin Laden threatened huge attacks of France, which has yet to happen. Google “France Declares War against al Qaeda”. Even if al Qaeda did succeed at say destroying the Eiffel Tower, or even parliament, France wouldn’t start aiding bin Laden’s effort to bankrupt the West.
Al Qaeda has killed far more Sufi Muslims than they did Americans on 9/11. All the lives of the Awakening Council, those Sunnis that changed sides to fight with the Americans in Iraq, are in grave danger. Somehow we got to figure out the right way to be involved, not how to stop being involved. If we leave in a hurry without a peace treaty some will try to flee including those women in Kabul who took off the burka. Probably far less dead bodies then year after year of war, but the press will be focused on any show trials, not all the lives saved in the long run. And there will be future provocations from al Qaeda such as the rest of the world is experiencing, with many Americans more angry at the President if he didn’t respond to the provocation than if US troops were still there. We need different responses to threats and crises.
I am going to risk going back to President Bush overthrowing Saddam. Vietnam likewise overthrew Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge bloodbath in Cambodia and no one is complaining. Vietnam had no more right to do this than the US with Saddam. But Vietnam didn’t engage in “shock and awe” and nation building. Karzai may be corrupt but not below international standards, so the US has no business acting like we are in charge of him.
I would like to see France or Russia mediate the dispute between the US and the Taliban. Afghan President Karzai already begged the Saudis, Iran and China to do so.
The above is off the subject except those claiming Obama is bought off by the military or part of a plot by the rich not to set a firm cutoff date to withdraw, totally misses the difficulties involved and helps people to fall for such theories as ending taxes will end the economic slump.
People need to get involved more with solving the economic crisis, like ordinary individuals involved with fighting global warming.
The following are suggestions that might get people thinking about getting involved in more ways than stopping the fed, demonstrating, or hoarding.
Since money not circulating is part of the cause of economic stagnation or downturn, one partial solution would be for the rich to be taxed less when they spend their money then when they save it. This is already part of the theory behind tax deductions, but talking about it might improve the process. If some of the rich insist on working toward no taxes for the rich, than rather than tax cut extensions, it would be better for more deduction even 100% deductions for money spent on charity or employee intensive projects. Perhaps Congress could junk the tax compromise bill in favor of real job stimulus tax laws.
Come on everyone join me! We are like a family riding a car with bald tires with most of the family trying not to think about it. One wanting to switch to bicycles, another to stop and stay where they are, but the rest of the family resigned to continue the drive without anyone managing to get new tires.
Now for some more suggestions to fight the drift toward collapse. Iceland is being bailed out by Europe, but it has the lowest business taxes in the world, therefore many companies make their corporate headquarters there. Raising the business tax could made be a condition for more aid. Then the US and Europe together raise the business tax to stop capital flight to where the taxes are lowest. Next the US and Europe could get together to end the loophole of offshore banking.
There were efforts with some state governments to get prescriptions filled in Canada and elsewhere. This can save a lot of money on medical costs, perhaps even individuals can get 5% kick back from insurance, or medicare if they get refills on the Internet. Maybe everyone’s second and future monthly repeated prescription purchases could be bought on the Internet and mailed to patients, by their insurance company, medicare, and perhaps even welfare officials. This, providing there is a way of making sure what they get is quality medicine. Of course that is a big if.
The US embargo on Cuba is hurting the US economically and the more it succeeds the more Cubans in this country send foreign aid back to their relatives in Cuba. Some Americans took their Social Security check to Mexico where everything is cheaper and the US saved money on medicare and medicaid, but crime is getting in the way of new arrivals. Crime-free Cuba would be a perfect place to retire and no more medicare costs and if red tape is cut close enough for easy visits back to the US.
If the US would grant 10% of Medicare, Medicaid, SSI and welfare benefits to those going overseas, Americans in Cuba would make money from the US whenever they got sick until Cuba changed its laws to charge that amount to foreigners seeking medical care in otherwise free health care Cuba. Then the 10% adjusted up and down to the lowest point Americans would seek and get medical care overseas. Some hospitals in the US, on an experimental effort, are trying to get robots to give bedridden patients baths and to feed them, with alarms temporarily to call a human nurse if the patient starts to resist or argue with each other. It would be far more humane for sick persons to seek medical nursing care where it’s cheap rather than a future in the US where machines, not people, treat the convalescent. One way or another, a lot of money is being saved by having medical procedures done in other countries of the world, see “medical tourism” also “online pharmacies Wikipedia”, and,
www.medicaldiscounts.com/employers_insurance.htm
Perhaps others could join me in suggestions to have a campaign against economic depression, like the campaign against global warming. As with picking up litter, many citizens and many employers could agree to hire, one new neighbor or employee to do one hour’s more worth of work for them, with an ad campaign similar to the pick up litter campaign. If it wasn’t for the spirit generated by the ecology movement, picking up liter or planting a tree for a healthy environment might seem ridiculous. If we get in the spirit of hiring a friend for one hour more of work will start us feeling we are doing something. And if it gets in the way of people jumping at the straw that tax cuts, for the well off, will save the economy it will at least stop things from getting worse in a hurry. Let’s get together to save our economic world. Post your own suggestions here or post this to sites those making other suggestions.
By Richard Kane
RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
Maybe off the subject, I for one was really mad at what I saw as the conniving ruthlessness of the first George Bush and President Reagan, and felt that the son’s bugling around gave progressive change some breathing room. In my mind we were far closer to a dictatorship under Reagan than since. The last President Bush reached out to Muslims to join his faith-based initiatives, and constantly praised the King of Jordan and the Saudis. Anyway I have trouble seeing a scenario where Obama would be replaced by someone better, and think it more likely, if replaced, it will be by someone far worse than the second George Bush. I for one supported Obama, but far from worshiped him, expecting him to fail, by being sabotaged the way Jimmy Carter was.
But Obama’s term isn’t over. I expect him at some point to salvage some of the situation by calling for blood, sweat and tears. If Obama is replaced will likely be replaced by someone who plays on hatred of immigrants and other polarizing trends.
Read more!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Can Armageddon be Stopped ie the Collapse of the West Prevented
Desperate Economy, Let’s Discuss options not Preach Solutions.
The debt is huge, manufacturing jobs are gone, the Internet hires a lot from the lower, sometimes the lowest paid parts of the world, telephoning, bookkeeping, even more than half the on site security guards can be replaced by security camera’s monitored on the other side of the world. Meanwhile as Obama slows things from getting worse people become furious at his claims that things are going to get better. Promises by those who already tried to make things better are less appealing then promises of voices that never had a change to be in charge.
Is there any site, or article other than this one that actually discusses the problem looking for answers from combining a variety of ideological perspectives, rather than preaching at each other?
Most Americans avoid dealing with the possibility of the West collapsing except those hoarding food and guns, and those with a strong ideological focus like Ron Paul who says we must learn to mind our own business in order not to go bankrupt. He also condemns the Federal Reserve, not noting that countries are in financial trouble and close to meltdown status without a Federal Reserve in their country. Others want revolution, noting how fast the rich keep getting richer, which not only hurts the rest of us but money not circulating due to those who save, not spend, interferes with the ability of commerce to circulate making it harder for people to get jobs or sell anything. Those that don’t hoard or have an idiotical axe to grind just hope ignoring the danger will make it go away.
I have several suggestions from a number of ideological perspectives which I will detail later on in this article. However one point, since money not circulating is part of the cause of economic stagnation or worse, one partial solution would be for the rich to be taxed less when they spend their money then when they save it. This is already part of the theory behind tax deductions, but talking about it might improve the process.
Come on everyone join me! We are like a family riding a car with bald tires with most of the family trying not to think about it. One wanting to switch to bicycles, another to stop and stay where they are, but the rest of the family resigned to continue the drive without anyone managing to get new tires.
Ron Paul’s desire to end involvement with other nations can be examined by looking at a place the US decided not to be involved, as in the issue of piracy. President Bush decided not to fight pirates after bin Laden’s threatened to join them in retaliation if Bush sent troops after pirates in Somalia. The result was piracy kept getting worse, but Italy did send out gun boats to capture pirates, so the example doesn’t prove whether the US shouldn’t be involved or should be involved.
Then under Obama, a US ship captain ended up in a lifeboat with the pirates, after a passenger took matters into his own hands and stabbed a pirate. The ship captain was held as a hostage for their demands, as they began to get extremely frustrated, US special forces killed the pirates at perhaps the last moment to save the hostage. Now the US is back in the pirate fighting business. In one incident, American troops in close phone contact with the crew swooped down from the sky and arrested the pirates without anyone getting hurt. A perfect conclusion except we are now closer to bankruptcy. Italy didn’t risk bankrupting their countries economy with huge expense. Later on in this essay I will point out that France got involved with fighting al Qaeda in North Africa without risking bankrupting France; but with the US it is all or nothing.
According to some, the worst crime the US did was overthrowing Saddam. However, the world cheered when Vietnam likewise overthrew the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s bloodbath in Cambodia. But Vietnam didn’t engage in shock and awe or nation building. The reason Saddam shouldn’t have been overthrown is that he kept the Shiites and Sunnis from fighting with each other, not that other nations had no business interfering in the domestic affairs of another regardless of how cruel their government is. However Karzai in Afghanistan is only corrupt. It is not US’s business to stop government corruption in Afghanistan. But the US believes in all or nothing.
A bit of good news concerning the possibility of the total collapse of the West is that the economies of Norway and New Zealand are soaring. Following reporting the good news might be a good place in this essay to post positive ideas in various directions that could set the ball moving toward improving things.
Iceland is being bailed out by Europe, but it has the lowest business taxes in the world, therefore many companies make their corporate headquarters there. Raising the business tax could be a condition for more aid. Then the US and Europe together raise the business tax to stop capital flight to where the taxes are lowest. Next the US and Europe could get together to end the loophole of offshore banking.
There were efforts with some state governments to get prescriptions filled in Canada and elsewhere. This can save a lot of money on medical costs, perhaps even individuals can get 5% kick back from insurance, or medicare and medicate if they get refills on the Internet. Maybe everyone’s second and future monthly prescription purchases could be bought on the Internet and mailed to patients, by their insurance company, medicare, medicare and perhaps even welfare officials. This, providing there is a way of making sure what they get is quality medicine. Of course that is a big if.
The US embargo on Cuba is hurting the US economically and the more it succeeds the more Cubans in this country send foreign aid back to their relatives in Cuba. Some Americans took their Social Security check to Mexico where everything is cheaper and the US saved money on medicare and medicaid, but crime is getting in the way of new arrivals. Crime-free Cuba would be a perfect place to retire and no more medicare costs, and if red tape is cut, close enough for easy visits back to the US.
If the US would grant 10% of Medicare, Medicaid, SSI and welfare benefits to those going overseas, Americans in Cuba would make money from the US whenever they got sick until Cuba changed its laws to charge that amount to foreigners seeking medical care in otherwise free health care Cuba. Then the 10% adjusted up and down to the lowest point Americans would seek and get medical care overseas. Some hospitals in the US, on an experimental effort, are trying to get robots to give bedridden patients baths and to feed them, with alarms temporarily to call a human nurse if the patient starts to resist or argue with each other. It would be far more humane for sick persons to seek medical nursing care where it’s cheap rather than a future in the US where machines, not people, treat the convalescent. One way or another, a lot of money is being saved by having medical procedures done in other countries of the world, see medical tourism also online pharmacies Wikipedia, and,
www.medicaldiscounts.com/employers_insurance.htm
Perhaps others could join me in suggestions to improve things that are not ideologically pure, and post them here or post my suggestions to their suggestions.
One thing glaringly missing so far in this essay is those who say simply end military spending and bankruptcy would go away. In North Africa in and around Mali there is an al Qaeda splinter that the US has yet to get involved in fighting. One can google “France declares war on al Qaeda” France refused to pay ransom and attacked instead, the war of words escalated until bin Laden himself threatening major attacks on France. So far no attacks. France’s involvement in resisting al Qaeda in North Africa might have slowed US trying to deal with that al Qaeda group there. Even if al Qaeda did make a major terror attack against France. France isn’t about to start bankrupting itself with major military expenditure or spar with non-al Qaeda Muslims, the way the US responds to an al Qaeda attack by calling Hamas a terror group.
In Afghanistan if the US leaves without a peace treaty, some women will try to flee Kabul and some of those fighting with the US might want to flee similar to when the US exited the Vietnam War. Of course nothing like when the Soviets left and the deaths went up from war lords fighting, but just as with the good news that Obama stopped or postponed a total financial collapse, the American people will be unaware of the good news if a few people die after the US leaves, despite the endless carnage if the US stays. And the President will have to deal with future provocations similar to the kidnapings of French citizens for ransom, and some in American crying for vengeance much more intensely then if US troops were still in Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda fights with a lot of people the Awakening Council of Iraq and Sufis in Pakistan have many more killed by al Qaeda then the US on 9/11. The very worse exit scenario would be US troops leaving Afghanistan as the dollar is collapsing. The peace movement’s claims that there are no al Qaeda troops in Afghanistan, but they don’t count al Qaeda connected suicide bombers. An exuberant al Qaeda might even try to seize US weapons as we leave and suicide-bomb to help them do it. Unfortunately, I believe fighting until a set withdrawal date is a poor second, but this is the main demand of the US peace movement. I wish people would instead demand that the US accept immediate arbitration if the Taliban would accept, by France, Saudi Arabia or any nation willing to mediate. Even if no nation is willing to do so, demanding this would change the spirit of the situation. At the moment every time the Afghan Karzai government has a peace Jirga the drone war gets more intense. The peace movement needs to note that during a peace gathering is not the time for drone attacks.
I realize that some of my suggestions like Internet prescription refills puts US pharmacists out of work and I would be happy to withdraw the proposal if a better mix is suggested, but any suggestion to end the path toward bankruptcy causes problems especially the supposed cost free means of saving money, simply quickly exiting the war. However, I believe if we all spread the word that our country is driving on bald tires, we will find a way to get new tires. Let’s try to have a discussion rather than a shouting match. I also realize that the Tea Parties idea of no earmarks is part of the solution not the problem, and needs to be factored into a comprehensive effort to stop the plunge toward western collapse.
Please others, add sites and links that deal with the subject of an economic meltdown in a non-ideological way. Or post these suggestions on other such sites.
RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
he following are other articles on the subject, hope someone posts more,
http://www.alternet.org/story/149Anhy104/7_reasons_why_capitalism_can%27t_recover_anytime_soon_/comments/#
http://dailyreckoning.com/prediction-hyperinflationary-great-depression-within-the-coming-year/
Read more!
The debt is huge, manufacturing jobs are gone, the Internet hires a lot from the lower, sometimes the lowest paid parts of the world, telephoning, bookkeeping, even more than half the on site security guards can be replaced by security camera’s monitored on the other side of the world. Meanwhile as Obama slows things from getting worse people become furious at his claims that things are going to get better. Promises by those who already tried to make things better are less appealing then promises of voices that never had a change to be in charge.
Is there any site, or article other than this one that actually discusses the problem looking for answers from combining a variety of ideological perspectives, rather than preaching at each other?
Most Americans avoid dealing with the possibility of the West collapsing except those hoarding food and guns, and those with a strong ideological focus like Ron Paul who says we must learn to mind our own business in order not to go bankrupt. He also condemns the Federal Reserve, not noting that countries are in financial trouble and close to meltdown status without a Federal Reserve in their country. Others want revolution, noting how fast the rich keep getting richer, which not only hurts the rest of us but money not circulating due to those who save, not spend, interferes with the ability of commerce to circulate making it harder for people to get jobs or sell anything. Those that don’t hoard or have an idiotical axe to grind just hope ignoring the danger will make it go away.
I have several suggestions from a number of ideological perspectives which I will detail later on in this article. However one point, since money not circulating is part of the cause of economic stagnation or worse, one partial solution would be for the rich to be taxed less when they spend their money then when they save it. This is already part of the theory behind tax deductions, but talking about it might improve the process.
Come on everyone join me! We are like a family riding a car with bald tires with most of the family trying not to think about it. One wanting to switch to bicycles, another to stop and stay where they are, but the rest of the family resigned to continue the drive without anyone managing to get new tires.
Ron Paul’s desire to end involvement with other nations can be examined by looking at a place the US decided not to be involved, as in the issue of piracy. President Bush decided not to fight pirates after bin Laden’s threatened to join them in retaliation if Bush sent troops after pirates in Somalia. The result was piracy kept getting worse, but Italy did send out gun boats to capture pirates, so the example doesn’t prove whether the US shouldn’t be involved or should be involved.
Then under Obama, a US ship captain ended up in a lifeboat with the pirates, after a passenger took matters into his own hands and stabbed a pirate. The ship captain was held as a hostage for their demands, as they began to get extremely frustrated, US special forces killed the pirates at perhaps the last moment to save the hostage. Now the US is back in the pirate fighting business. In one incident, American troops in close phone contact with the crew swooped down from the sky and arrested the pirates without anyone getting hurt. A perfect conclusion except we are now closer to bankruptcy. Italy didn’t risk bankrupting their countries economy with huge expense. Later on in this essay I will point out that France got involved with fighting al Qaeda in North Africa without risking bankrupting France; but with the US it is all or nothing.
According to some, the worst crime the US did was overthrowing Saddam. However, the world cheered when Vietnam likewise overthrew the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s bloodbath in Cambodia. But Vietnam didn’t engage in shock and awe or nation building. The reason Saddam shouldn’t have been overthrown is that he kept the Shiites and Sunnis from fighting with each other, not that other nations had no business interfering in the domestic affairs of another regardless of how cruel their government is. However Karzai in Afghanistan is only corrupt. It is not US’s business to stop government corruption in Afghanistan. But the US believes in all or nothing.
A bit of good news concerning the possibility of the total collapse of the West is that the economies of Norway and New Zealand are soaring. Following reporting the good news might be a good place in this essay to post positive ideas in various directions that could set the ball moving toward improving things.
Iceland is being bailed out by Europe, but it has the lowest business taxes in the world, therefore many companies make their corporate headquarters there. Raising the business tax could be a condition for more aid. Then the US and Europe together raise the business tax to stop capital flight to where the taxes are lowest. Next the US and Europe could get together to end the loophole of offshore banking.
There were efforts with some state governments to get prescriptions filled in Canada and elsewhere. This can save a lot of money on medical costs, perhaps even individuals can get 5% kick back from insurance, or medicare and medicate if they get refills on the Internet. Maybe everyone’s second and future monthly prescription purchases could be bought on the Internet and mailed to patients, by their insurance company, medicare, medicare and perhaps even welfare officials. This, providing there is a way of making sure what they get is quality medicine. Of course that is a big if.
The US embargo on Cuba is hurting the US economically and the more it succeeds the more Cubans in this country send foreign aid back to their relatives in Cuba. Some Americans took their Social Security check to Mexico where everything is cheaper and the US saved money on medicare and medicaid, but crime is getting in the way of new arrivals. Crime-free Cuba would be a perfect place to retire and no more medicare costs, and if red tape is cut, close enough for easy visits back to the US.
If the US would grant 10% of Medicare, Medicaid, SSI and welfare benefits to those going overseas, Americans in Cuba would make money from the US whenever they got sick until Cuba changed its laws to charge that amount to foreigners seeking medical care in otherwise free health care Cuba. Then the 10% adjusted up and down to the lowest point Americans would seek and get medical care overseas. Some hospitals in the US, on an experimental effort, are trying to get robots to give bedridden patients baths and to feed them, with alarms temporarily to call a human nurse if the patient starts to resist or argue with each other. It would be far more humane for sick persons to seek medical nursing care where it’s cheap rather than a future in the US where machines, not people, treat the convalescent. One way or another, a lot of money is being saved by having medical procedures done in other countries of the world, see medical tourism also online pharmacies Wikipedia, and,
www.medicaldiscounts.com/employers_insurance.htm
Perhaps others could join me in suggestions to improve things that are not ideologically pure, and post them here or post my suggestions to their suggestions.
One thing glaringly missing so far in this essay is those who say simply end military spending and bankruptcy would go away. In North Africa in and around Mali there is an al Qaeda splinter that the US has yet to get involved in fighting. One can google “France declares war on al Qaeda” France refused to pay ransom and attacked instead, the war of words escalated until bin Laden himself threatening major attacks on France. So far no attacks. France’s involvement in resisting al Qaeda in North Africa might have slowed US trying to deal with that al Qaeda group there. Even if al Qaeda did make a major terror attack against France. France isn’t about to start bankrupting itself with major military expenditure or spar with non-al Qaeda Muslims, the way the US responds to an al Qaeda attack by calling Hamas a terror group.
In Afghanistan if the US leaves without a peace treaty, some women will try to flee Kabul and some of those fighting with the US might want to flee similar to when the US exited the Vietnam War. Of course nothing like when the Soviets left and the deaths went up from war lords fighting, but just as with the good news that Obama stopped or postponed a total financial collapse, the American people will be unaware of the good news if a few people die after the US leaves, despite the endless carnage if the US stays. And the President will have to deal with future provocations similar to the kidnapings of French citizens for ransom, and some in American crying for vengeance much more intensely then if US troops were still in Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda fights with a lot of people the Awakening Council of Iraq and Sufis in Pakistan have many more killed by al Qaeda then the US on 9/11. The very worse exit scenario would be US troops leaving Afghanistan as the dollar is collapsing. The peace movement’s claims that there are no al Qaeda troops in Afghanistan, but they don’t count al Qaeda connected suicide bombers. An exuberant al Qaeda might even try to seize US weapons as we leave and suicide-bomb to help them do it. Unfortunately, I believe fighting until a set withdrawal date is a poor second, but this is the main demand of the US peace movement. I wish people would instead demand that the US accept immediate arbitration if the Taliban would accept, by France, Saudi Arabia or any nation willing to mediate. Even if no nation is willing to do so, demanding this would change the spirit of the situation. At the moment every time the Afghan Karzai government has a peace Jirga the drone war gets more intense. The peace movement needs to note that during a peace gathering is not the time for drone attacks.
I realize that some of my suggestions like Internet prescription refills puts US pharmacists out of work and I would be happy to withdraw the proposal if a better mix is suggested, but any suggestion to end the path toward bankruptcy causes problems especially the supposed cost free means of saving money, simply quickly exiting the war. However, I believe if we all spread the word that our country is driving on bald tires, we will find a way to get new tires. Let’s try to have a discussion rather than a shouting match. I also realize that the Tea Parties idea of no earmarks is part of the solution not the problem, and needs to be factored into a comprehensive effort to stop the plunge toward western collapse.
Please others, add sites and links that deal with the subject of an economic meltdown in a non-ideological way. Or post these suggestions on other such sites.
RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
he following are other articles on the subject, hope someone posts more,
http://www.alternet.org/story/149Anhy104/7_reasons_why_capitalism_can%27t_recover_anytime_soon_/comments/#
http://dailyreckoning.com/prediction-hyperinflationary-great-depression-within-the-coming-year/
Read more!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Democrats Saying ‘NO', good news if
Nancy Pelosi hasn’t backed down. The tax reduction for the rich isn't stimulus, but what amounts to pork for the rich. The rebellious Democrats I think might end up good news even for Obama. Obama over the years has put a lot of time in trying to be an unbiased arbitrator even as he ran for President. So progressives shouldn’t be surprised that he doesn’t fight hard for what most think he believes. There are a lot of Lame Duck Representatives that should be particular appealed to, to vote against the tax-cut smorgasbord. Particularly locally Joe Sestak.
President Obama’s problems are similar to a teacher or professor who has a friend or a relative in class, and when mediating a dispute between students, the friend kept saying “yes” to suggested compromises and the other student or students keep saying “not enough”, giving the appearance of always deciding in favor of those who have no relation to the teacher.
Some Democrats destructively challenging the anger was another problem. If a child, husband or wife is too obedient, it’s not healthy, neither has been Democrats obeying the President. In some families. the people argue only when they get angry and hate each other, screaming such things as you are the worse parents. There is no reason for progressives to condemn the President just quietly refuse to compromise what you believe, at least as much as Republicans do.
Thanks to Reagan, et al, the good manufacturing jobs are all gone. Thanks to the Internet people can work from anywhere ignoring US minimum wage laws. Obama should have promised in the last election to prevent things from getting worse in a hurry. The wild promises by the Republicans to make things better made more sense than Obama claiming he could improve things faster in two more years than he did in his first two.
This tax legislation for the unemployed ends in 13 months but for the rich two years creating a unbalance for future debates over stimulus. The non-Rich lobbying in the future with less and less cards on the table. It’s urgent to insist on a equal length of stimulus even if unemployment checks get cut 20%.
Srorter version ends here at this link
http://youngphillypolitics.com/democrats_saying_%E2%80%98no039_good_news_if
I wonder if Obama is actually inadvertently giving tough-love to the progressives, somewhat similar to the way Rep. Charles Rangel wanted to restore the draft to force young people to think of conscience, like young people did during Vietnam. If so, it’s important for progressives to return tough-love to the President, rather than add to the hate the President campaign started by racists.
Please fellow activist’s don’t join the conservatives in pouring hate on Obama. Just learn how to calmly say “no” By offering this bone to Republicans the START Treaty is way on its way toward being passed. There is good reason to believe that Obama’s mediating style stopped or postponed another great depression. The fires of the first depression flamed by nations enacting giant tariff walls against each other. Obama so far prevented war with Iran while at the same time preventing the kind of nuclear arms race between Shiite and Sunni countries much like the nuclear race between India and Pakistan.
Obama really cares about foreign policy; and somehow, despite the midterm disaster is continuing to lead internationally. When it comes to Afghanistan critics may be right but they are also unfair. As things now stand if the US decided to just get out, like progressives want, al Qaeda can suicide-bomb, the withdrawing US troops, to make sure they stay and continue the warring world bin Laden craves. The al Qaeda splinter that sent the package bombs is now happily announcing how little they spent on the parts making those bombs compared to the millions the US spent in response.
I think Obama should publicly say concerning the war that he realizes that some woman will be crying that they don’t want to have to wear the burka again and al Qaeda will symbolically attack but we should get out anyway. People who want to troops to come home don’t even mention those who will be begging to come with us. We are fixated with 9/11 but if you google “Awakening Council”, those Sunni’s in Iraq who sided with the Americans one can note many others have more to fear from al Qaeda than the US has. Also, if you google Sufi with al Qaeda you will see a lot of attacks against Sufis. Imam Abdul Rauf’s Sufi mosque project in downtown NY is somehow seen by some as a monument to those militant Muslims who tend to hate Sufis. Sorry I changed the subject from the upcoming bill but we need to put ourselves in Obama’s shoes, even as we more often need to say, “not enough” to his proposals.
Let’s lobby Specter and Sestak. Cheering Barney Frank from far away has been a poor use of local resources. Pennsylvania has its role in the conflict between the rich and the non-rich of the rich constantly having more cards to play at the table. When talking to Specter and Sestak, you will not get them mad at Obama.
http://my.firedoglake.com/richardkanepa/2010/12/09/cheer-obama-but-oppose-his-tax-extension-deal/
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/26-26/4210-cheer-obama-but-oppose-his-tax-extension-deal
Problems getting out of the war,
www.readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-21/4131-fighting-bedbugs-with-forest-fires-obama-in-afghanistan
RichardKane
PA.blogspot.com
Read more!
President Obama’s problems are similar to a teacher or professor who has a friend or a relative in class, and when mediating a dispute between students, the friend kept saying “yes” to suggested compromises and the other student or students keep saying “not enough”, giving the appearance of always deciding in favor of those who have no relation to the teacher.
Some Democrats destructively challenging the anger was another problem. If a child, husband or wife is too obedient, it’s not healthy, neither has been Democrats obeying the President. In some families. the people argue only when they get angry and hate each other, screaming such things as you are the worse parents. There is no reason for progressives to condemn the President just quietly refuse to compromise what you believe, at least as much as Republicans do.
Thanks to Reagan, et al, the good manufacturing jobs are all gone. Thanks to the Internet people can work from anywhere ignoring US minimum wage laws. Obama should have promised in the last election to prevent things from getting worse in a hurry. The wild promises by the Republicans to make things better made more sense than Obama claiming he could improve things faster in two more years than he did in his first two.
This tax legislation for the unemployed ends in 13 months but for the rich two years creating a unbalance for future debates over stimulus. The non-Rich lobbying in the future with less and less cards on the table. It’s urgent to insist on a equal length of stimulus even if unemployment checks get cut 20%.
Srorter version ends here at this link
http://youngphillypolitics.com/democrats_saying_%E2%80%98no039_good_news_if
I wonder if Obama is actually inadvertently giving tough-love to the progressives, somewhat similar to the way Rep. Charles Rangel wanted to restore the draft to force young people to think of conscience, like young people did during Vietnam. If so, it’s important for progressives to return tough-love to the President, rather than add to the hate the President campaign started by racists.
Please fellow activist’s don’t join the conservatives in pouring hate on Obama. Just learn how to calmly say “no” By offering this bone to Republicans the START Treaty is way on its way toward being passed. There is good reason to believe that Obama’s mediating style stopped or postponed another great depression. The fires of the first depression flamed by nations enacting giant tariff walls against each other. Obama so far prevented war with Iran while at the same time preventing the kind of nuclear arms race between Shiite and Sunni countries much like the nuclear race between India and Pakistan.
Obama really cares about foreign policy; and somehow, despite the midterm disaster is continuing to lead internationally. When it comes to Afghanistan critics may be right but they are also unfair. As things now stand if the US decided to just get out, like progressives want, al Qaeda can suicide-bomb, the withdrawing US troops, to make sure they stay and continue the warring world bin Laden craves. The al Qaeda splinter that sent the package bombs is now happily announcing how little they spent on the parts making those bombs compared to the millions the US spent in response.
I think Obama should publicly say concerning the war that he realizes that some woman will be crying that they don’t want to have to wear the burka again and al Qaeda will symbolically attack but we should get out anyway. People who want to troops to come home don’t even mention those who will be begging to come with us. We are fixated with 9/11 but if you google “Awakening Council”, those Sunni’s in Iraq who sided with the Americans one can note many others have more to fear from al Qaeda than the US has. Also, if you google Sufi with al Qaeda you will see a lot of attacks against Sufis. Imam Abdul Rauf’s Sufi mosque project in downtown NY is somehow seen by some as a monument to those militant Muslims who tend to hate Sufis. Sorry I changed the subject from the upcoming bill but we need to put ourselves in Obama’s shoes, even as we more often need to say, “not enough” to his proposals.
Let’s lobby Specter and Sestak. Cheering Barney Frank from far away has been a poor use of local resources. Pennsylvania has its role in the conflict between the rich and the non-rich of the rich constantly having more cards to play at the table. When talking to Specter and Sestak, you will not get them mad at Obama.
http://my.firedoglake.com/richardkanepa/2010/12/09/cheer-obama-but-oppose-his-tax-extension-deal/
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/26-26/4210-cheer-obama-but-oppose-his-tax-extension-deal
Problems getting out of the war,
www.readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-21/4131-fighting-bedbugs-with-forest-fires-obama-in-afghanistan
RichardKane
PA.blogspot.com
Read more!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Peace leaders killed in Afghanistan because the Taliban thought they smelled a trick
As an American who was hopeful about Afghan President Karzai’s call for an all-inclusive Afghan Peace Jirga, (peace conference) with western participation mixed in, I have to convey some grim news, peace advocates have been killed. On the Internet, I recently urged that more westerners join in supporting Hamid Kazai’s efforts. Unfortunately, the Taliban considers the peace conference a trick. Somehow every time Karzai talks peace the drone attacks get more intense.
In places where the Taliban is strong, several tribal leaders were assassinated for promoting this peace effort. This includes Abdul Rahm in April and Rahman Gul along with his two brothers on May 16. It saddens me and troubles me that western peace activists pay so little attention to the deaths of fellow peace activists in Afghanistan,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/05/201051743554977652.html
http://phillyimc.org/en/sad-irony-afghan-elder-near-kandahar-shot-dead
I guess it is possible that by speaking out for peace these two tribal leaders thought they could go further in defying some al Qaeda directive, if so it’s still bad news.
In response to General McChrystal’s efforts to win the Afghan’s hearts and minds, Mullah Omar issued a new Taliban code of ethics, to do likewise, by trying to fight with less mayhem and collateral damage, and better PR. Besides ordering that girls schools should not be subject to attack, he urges fighters under his control to try to warn people to quit helping the Americans before subjecting them to assassination sometimes beating them up as a last warning. Even if this is still in effect it meant that Abdul Rahm and Rahman Gul were put in an impossible corner between what the Americans suddenly getting very involved where they lived, and demanded things of them and what the Taliban demanded. Administration officials keep talking about showing strength. After he shows enough strength Obama claims he can start negotiations but most Muslims think partly of economic strength, even non-militants proud that they don’t charge interest or borrow much, and have an overinflated idea of the inevitability of Western currency collapse which obviously would lead to a quick US withdrawal. Talking peace while Muslim militants morn the death of a Muslim leader by a drone attack just won’t work. The peace process could, I believe, be salvaged if Hamid Karzai could get the power to condemn the drone war, without the US in response trying to quickly kick him out of office.
Before I continue an article that may be too full of doom and gloom to finish reading, I would like to say I have a proposal of a dream at the end of this essay that since India and Pakistan are now temporarily friendlier to each other than in the past, perhaps they, along with Iran could broker a real peace in that sad part of the world.
An area where I am reluctant to go, but I hope others explore, is the possibility that the Afghan War is more hopeless than a “Catch 22". As I already begun to mention, when the Soviets left, massive carnage and confusion followed as the warlords fought among themselves. Today the more General McChrystal avoids civilian deaths the more tolerable endless war will be. This, as I already began to allude to, especially if Mullah Omar keeps responding with a strict code of ethics, of his own, often individually warning people to specifically stop cooperating with the Americans on a specific project before attacking them, and never attacking open markets and other civilian gatherings. People employed as a soldier or guard no matter what side, can become afraid of not finding work if peace comes. Even some in the Taliban may worry about no longer being able to steal supplies if the US leaves. More than the US military-industrial complex involves an addition to war.
A few women sadly putting back on the burqa while crying that the US or Obama or Kucinich betrayed them will spread the image of betrayal nearly as much as many people shouting betrayal as the death rate climbs from fighters continuing to find work, with various warlords. Those warlords that fought with the US will be free, if the US leaves, from having to avoid civilian casualties.
If the US stays temporarily in Afghanistan, while a new order is being established as Gilbuddin Hekmatyar a, until recently, Taliban supporting warlord tried to arrange, with a power sharing government with President Karzai, instead of cheering the lack of bloodbath, the American public will be incensed if a woman after a short trial is whipped for not wearing a burqa where the US troops are maintaining order or if a traitor to the Taliban is executed while the US troops watch. No matter which scenario happens the American people will be disgusted with the results. Someone please explore the beyond “Catch 22" angle to what the US should do or not do in trying to leave Afghanistan.
For a link to the above bad news insight without connecting it to the larger article click on,
http://ramblingsfromthehornetsnest.blogspot.com/2010/05/really-bad-news-in-afghanistan-may_24.html
Now back to the article I want to write where there are great roadblocks but some hope for a solution. It should be clear, and unfortunately may soon be very clear, that international monetary collapse and confusion, not al Qaeda’s dreams of non-western values no longer being picked on and ridiculed, (due to overwhelming al Qaeda violence) is the biggest danger to us all. There are various ways to get pride in non-Western culture besides al Qaida’s dreams of mayhem. Palestinians clinging to land despite bulldozers moving forward, if they actually got to stay in the rubble and rebuild would make al Qaeda’s grim tactics then seem to make no sense. Iran’s defiance also offers a hopeful alterative for many in contrast to al Qaeda’s pro-collateral damage mayhem. Google al-Qaeda declares war on Iran to see how much bin Laden doesn’t like Iran.
To make a long story short, the worse way for the war to end would be a severe US depression accompanying a hasty US withdrawal, followed by a restructuring of what it means to be an American such as occurred in the restructuring of what it means to be a Russian, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since militant Muslims believe they are responsible for this, and are proud of it, it has led to endless terror attacks by Muslim extremists, inspired by the belief that they changed Russian history.
Whatever the US does, if done by the US alone, that sad part of the world may end up in misery for many years to come.
The US peace movement has an illusion that the number of Representatives voting to set a firm future date for war funding to end will gradually increase. However, as arbitrary date comes close there would be good reason for several Representatives to get scared and change their mind. Twice when a power sharing cease-fire seemed close, peace groups were flooded with “Don’t betray Afghan Women in the name of peace”. A usually firmly antiwar peace group, the Institute for Policy Studies, when there seemed to be a likelihood of a power-sharing agreement between the pro-Taliban warlord Gilbuddin Hekmatyar and Afghan President Karzai, it suddenly had an article, “fpif, Afghanistan: Should we stay or should we go?” which was an evenhanded debate on whether or not the US should leave. Then later when the imminent peace scare was no longer in the news, it went back to wanting to set a firm future date to stop war funding.
Thus if a clear funds cut off date came near, several Congressional representatives would likely get cold feet. This tendency for an ever changing final date could be solved if Dennis Kucinich’s antiwar funding bill had a preamble that funds should be cut even if Women in Kabul are Forced to Wear Burqas, and even if fighting over who is in charge takes place. However if the war ends due to a depression followed by a restructuring of what it means to be an American, the war may never be over like with the Russians and militant Muslims.
No American in the 2012 election cycle will want to spend money on an endless war, even if the US economy doesn’t fail. Nixon tried carpet bombing North Vietnam and invading Cambodia and Laos, and when that didn’t work “nuke Vietnam” placards decorated the fewer and fewer pro-war events. It is likely that if a Democratic challenger to Obama fails to get the nomination probably because he is considered a hypocrite due to past hedging statements on the war, a Republican might win claiming he will suggest what he considers generous peace terms and the US taking off the gloves and fighting tough if the other side doesn’t accept, leading to more than carpet bombing and the entire Muslim world mad at the US the way they were the Soviet Union, during its Afghan War.
Politically in this country it is perceived that Republicans support big business and the war, while Democrats half support big business and many Democrats are wishy-washy on the war, leading to some of the electorate to be inspired by one or more conservative, and the rest of the voters disgusted with politics, and all kinds of talk about Obama being a coward toward the Military-Industrial-Complex. Instead there should be a sober discussion of why we should get out despite the possibility it could be bad temporary news for the Afghans.
As for what to do, Iran has done things that lesson US problems over there and can do more. There are several things Iran is doing that the US hasn’t acknowledged as being helpful. In Iraq, Iran has urged that Sunnis be part of the government, which lessons the sectarian strife the US may end up again trying to deal with. In Afghanistan Iran encourages, especially Shiite Afghans to come and work in Iran’s oil industry. The money sent home a source of economic stimulus that makes Iraqis more tolerant of the US supported government. Plus Iran looking strong, gives pride to Muslim subject to extremism, which challenges the pride in al Qaeda’s ability to create mayhem, and Ahmadinejad’s lavish praise of Karzai also makes Iraqis proud. The US people wouldn’t let both Bush and Obama actually bow to the King of Jordan and the Saudi King to make up for Muslims bowing to US culture every time a Muslim man puts on a suit or a Muslim woman, wears a dress. If the US would stop pressuring Iran they might be willing to provide the salaries that would keep Afghan fighters from continuing their trade if peace ever gets declared.
The world economic climate is so bad that Australia actually decided to help guarantee the Greek debt. Before Obama risks offering US help to Greece, Obama could end the economic blockade of Cuba and the upcoming sanctions on Iran which would give the world an economic shot in the arm, and Obama could also give the world currency system another economic boast by declaring the war over with Iran paying the fighters to stop fighting. In the near future Iran, Cuba and Venezuela can work with the rest of the world for a more perfect world or in the near future it may be a barter only (without currency) world with people far from farm land resorting to cannibalism in order try to survive.
I know however my solution faces great roadblocks. Al Qaeda is proud of the Muslim belief against usury and thus has an exaggerate belief in the inevitably of the west descending into bankruptcy and currency collapse. I’m sure the professional not amateur terrorists like bin Laden are aware that a volunteer army is expensive and I think bin Laden while contemplating a second terror attack would not want to do anything that might restart a draft and allow the US to fight in a cheaper manner. However, if the future looks like it will be peace, not bankruptcy, bin Laden would be determined to try to do something drastic. Also Israel, or even Turkey or China might not appreciate a peace that they are not part of.
AN UPDATE I WOULD LIKE TO HOPE A CORRECTION
According to Robert Dreyfuss efforts for talks between the Taliban and the Karzai government are still going strong. But how could peace advocates be killed by the same people who want to talk to the Karzai government?
www.thenation.com/blog/more-secret-talks-taliban
Does the Taliban consist of different people with different outlooks all claiming to represent one organization? Or is Robert Dreyfuss grasping a straws? Whatever is going on I am troubled that western peace groups mostly don't not the deaths of non-western peace leaders. Possibly the al Qaeda loves trouble even though they respect the fact that Mullah Obama has been far more successful at persuasion then they have. It’s not part of this article but I suspect that Mullah Obama won't denounce bin Laden the way Hekmatyar did because since Mullah Omar has real differences with bin Laden, bin Laden is more likely to get even against Mullah Omar if Omar were to follow Hekmatyar's example and denounce al Qaeda. It may be that the new tension between Karzai and US officials may make the Taliban more sympathetic to Karzai then they were last week.
One might conclude that the above essay is a rambling way of conveying that the peace jirga won’t work unless Hamid Karzai has much more freedom to criticize the US. However, anyone conveying bad news needs to somehow have a hopeful carrot attached to it. I hope I have inspired others to write similar pieces, maybe with an email link as a comment to this article, even on the subject of the economy which I also know is a subject of choosing between grim choices and/or a few far away utopian solutions, war and war spending and the economy overlapping issues.
There is somehow a primitive desire to look strong not weak that encompasses every American President that makes sense when it comes to al Qaeda, but not Karzai and I believe not Iran or Mullah Omar. Both Karzai and Mullah Omar never embraced the random mayhem many warlords specialized in, and since he initiated a Taliban code of ethics he would be a better ruler then most Afghans. Let’s give him the power and prestige to control the soldiers from finding employment in the only profession they ever knew. Anyway, without criticizing Obama I want to urge him to temporally stop the drone war and give Afghan President Karzai’s peace efforts as the reason why.
For supporting links, scan this somewhat similar essays,
www.phillyimc.org/en/peace-leader-killed-1000-us-deaths-other-bad-news-about-war
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/50377
http://RichardKanepa.blogspot.com
Richard Kane is retired in Philladelphia PA
Read more!
In places where the Taliban is strong, several tribal leaders were assassinated for promoting this peace effort. This includes Abdul Rahm in April and Rahman Gul along with his two brothers on May 16. It saddens me and troubles me that western peace activists pay so little attention to the deaths of fellow peace activists in Afghanistan,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/05/201051743554977652.html
http://phillyimc.org/en/sad-irony-afghan-elder-near-kandahar-shot-dead
I guess it is possible that by speaking out for peace these two tribal leaders thought they could go further in defying some al Qaeda directive, if so it’s still bad news.
In response to General McChrystal’s efforts to win the Afghan’s hearts and minds, Mullah Omar issued a new Taliban code of ethics, to do likewise, by trying to fight with less mayhem and collateral damage, and better PR. Besides ordering that girls schools should not be subject to attack, he urges fighters under his control to try to warn people to quit helping the Americans before subjecting them to assassination sometimes beating them up as a last warning. Even if this is still in effect it meant that Abdul Rahm and Rahman Gul were put in an impossible corner between what the Americans suddenly getting very involved where they lived, and demanded things of them and what the Taliban demanded. Administration officials keep talking about showing strength. After he shows enough strength Obama claims he can start negotiations but most Muslims think partly of economic strength, even non-militants proud that they don’t charge interest or borrow much, and have an overinflated idea of the inevitability of Western currency collapse which obviously would lead to a quick US withdrawal. Talking peace while Muslim militants morn the death of a Muslim leader by a drone attack just won’t work. The peace process could, I believe, be salvaged if Hamid Karzai could get the power to condemn the drone war, without the US in response trying to quickly kick him out of office.
Before I continue an article that may be too full of doom and gloom to finish reading, I would like to say I have a proposal of a dream at the end of this essay that since India and Pakistan are now temporarily friendlier to each other than in the past, perhaps they, along with Iran could broker a real peace in that sad part of the world.
An area where I am reluctant to go, but I hope others explore, is the possibility that the Afghan War is more hopeless than a “Catch 22". As I already begun to mention, when the Soviets left, massive carnage and confusion followed as the warlords fought among themselves. Today the more General McChrystal avoids civilian deaths the more tolerable endless war will be. This, as I already began to allude to, especially if Mullah Omar keeps responding with a strict code of ethics, of his own, often individually warning people to specifically stop cooperating with the Americans on a specific project before attacking them, and never attacking open markets and other civilian gatherings. People employed as a soldier or guard no matter what side, can become afraid of not finding work if peace comes. Even some in the Taliban may worry about no longer being able to steal supplies if the US leaves. More than the US military-industrial complex involves an addition to war.
A few women sadly putting back on the burqa while crying that the US or Obama or Kucinich betrayed them will spread the image of betrayal nearly as much as many people shouting betrayal as the death rate climbs from fighters continuing to find work, with various warlords. Those warlords that fought with the US will be free, if the US leaves, from having to avoid civilian casualties.
If the US stays temporarily in Afghanistan, while a new order is being established as Gilbuddin Hekmatyar a, until recently, Taliban supporting warlord tried to arrange, with a power sharing government with President Karzai, instead of cheering the lack of bloodbath, the American public will be incensed if a woman after a short trial is whipped for not wearing a burqa where the US troops are maintaining order or if a traitor to the Taliban is executed while the US troops watch. No matter which scenario happens the American people will be disgusted with the results. Someone please explore the beyond “Catch 22" angle to what the US should do or not do in trying to leave Afghanistan.
For a link to the above bad news insight without connecting it to the larger article click on,
http://ramblingsfromthehornetsnest.blogspot.com/2010/05/really-bad-news-in-afghanistan-may_24.html
Now back to the article I want to write where there are great roadblocks but some hope for a solution. It should be clear, and unfortunately may soon be very clear, that international monetary collapse and confusion, not al Qaeda’s dreams of non-western values no longer being picked on and ridiculed, (due to overwhelming al Qaeda violence) is the biggest danger to us all. There are various ways to get pride in non-Western culture besides al Qaida’s dreams of mayhem. Palestinians clinging to land despite bulldozers moving forward, if they actually got to stay in the rubble and rebuild would make al Qaeda’s grim tactics then seem to make no sense. Iran’s defiance also offers a hopeful alterative for many in contrast to al Qaeda’s pro-collateral damage mayhem. Google al-Qaeda declares war on Iran to see how much bin Laden doesn’t like Iran.
To make a long story short, the worse way for the war to end would be a severe US depression accompanying a hasty US withdrawal, followed by a restructuring of what it means to be an American such as occurred in the restructuring of what it means to be a Russian, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since militant Muslims believe they are responsible for this, and are proud of it, it has led to endless terror attacks by Muslim extremists, inspired by the belief that they changed Russian history.
Whatever the US does, if done by the US alone, that sad part of the world may end up in misery for many years to come.
The US peace movement has an illusion that the number of Representatives voting to set a firm future date for war funding to end will gradually increase. However, as arbitrary date comes close there would be good reason for several Representatives to get scared and change their mind. Twice when a power sharing cease-fire seemed close, peace groups were flooded with “Don’t betray Afghan Women in the name of peace”. A usually firmly antiwar peace group, the Institute for Policy Studies, when there seemed to be a likelihood of a power-sharing agreement between the pro-Taliban warlord Gilbuddin Hekmatyar and Afghan President Karzai, it suddenly had an article, “fpif, Afghanistan: Should we stay or should we go?” which was an evenhanded debate on whether or not the US should leave. Then later when the imminent peace scare was no longer in the news, it went back to wanting to set a firm future date to stop war funding.
Thus if a clear funds cut off date came near, several Congressional representatives would likely get cold feet. This tendency for an ever changing final date could be solved if Dennis Kucinich’s antiwar funding bill had a preamble that funds should be cut even if Women in Kabul are Forced to Wear Burqas, and even if fighting over who is in charge takes place. However if the war ends due to a depression followed by a restructuring of what it means to be an American, the war may never be over like with the Russians and militant Muslims.
No American in the 2012 election cycle will want to spend money on an endless war, even if the US economy doesn’t fail. Nixon tried carpet bombing North Vietnam and invading Cambodia and Laos, and when that didn’t work “nuke Vietnam” placards decorated the fewer and fewer pro-war events. It is likely that if a Democratic challenger to Obama fails to get the nomination probably because he is considered a hypocrite due to past hedging statements on the war, a Republican might win claiming he will suggest what he considers generous peace terms and the US taking off the gloves and fighting tough if the other side doesn’t accept, leading to more than carpet bombing and the entire Muslim world mad at the US the way they were the Soviet Union, during its Afghan War.
Politically in this country it is perceived that Republicans support big business and the war, while Democrats half support big business and many Democrats are wishy-washy on the war, leading to some of the electorate to be inspired by one or more conservative, and the rest of the voters disgusted with politics, and all kinds of talk about Obama being a coward toward the Military-Industrial-Complex. Instead there should be a sober discussion of why we should get out despite the possibility it could be bad temporary news for the Afghans.
As for what to do, Iran has done things that lesson US problems over there and can do more. There are several things Iran is doing that the US hasn’t acknowledged as being helpful. In Iraq, Iran has urged that Sunnis be part of the government, which lessons the sectarian strife the US may end up again trying to deal with. In Afghanistan Iran encourages, especially Shiite Afghans to come and work in Iran’s oil industry. The money sent home a source of economic stimulus that makes Iraqis more tolerant of the US supported government. Plus Iran looking strong, gives pride to Muslim subject to extremism, which challenges the pride in al Qaeda’s ability to create mayhem, and Ahmadinejad’s lavish praise of Karzai also makes Iraqis proud. The US people wouldn’t let both Bush and Obama actually bow to the King of Jordan and the Saudi King to make up for Muslims bowing to US culture every time a Muslim man puts on a suit or a Muslim woman, wears a dress. If the US would stop pressuring Iran they might be willing to provide the salaries that would keep Afghan fighters from continuing their trade if peace ever gets declared.
The world economic climate is so bad that Australia actually decided to help guarantee the Greek debt. Before Obama risks offering US help to Greece, Obama could end the economic blockade of Cuba and the upcoming sanctions on Iran which would give the world an economic shot in the arm, and Obama could also give the world currency system another economic boast by declaring the war over with Iran paying the fighters to stop fighting. In the near future Iran, Cuba and Venezuela can work with the rest of the world for a more perfect world or in the near future it may be a barter only (without currency) world with people far from farm land resorting to cannibalism in order try to survive.
I know however my solution faces great roadblocks. Al Qaeda is proud of the Muslim belief against usury and thus has an exaggerate belief in the inevitably of the west descending into bankruptcy and currency collapse. I’m sure the professional not amateur terrorists like bin Laden are aware that a volunteer army is expensive and I think bin Laden while contemplating a second terror attack would not want to do anything that might restart a draft and allow the US to fight in a cheaper manner. However, if the future looks like it will be peace, not bankruptcy, bin Laden would be determined to try to do something drastic. Also Israel, or even Turkey or China might not appreciate a peace that they are not part of.
AN UPDATE I WOULD LIKE TO HOPE A CORRECTION
According to Robert Dreyfuss efforts for talks between the Taliban and the Karzai government are still going strong. But how could peace advocates be killed by the same people who want to talk to the Karzai government?
www.thenation.com/blog/more-secret-talks-taliban
Does the Taliban consist of different people with different outlooks all claiming to represent one organization? Or is Robert Dreyfuss grasping a straws? Whatever is going on I am troubled that western peace groups mostly don't not the deaths of non-western peace leaders. Possibly the al Qaeda loves trouble even though they respect the fact that Mullah Obama has been far more successful at persuasion then they have. It’s not part of this article but I suspect that Mullah Obama won't denounce bin Laden the way Hekmatyar did because since Mullah Omar has real differences with bin Laden, bin Laden is more likely to get even against Mullah Omar if Omar were to follow Hekmatyar's example and denounce al Qaeda. It may be that the new tension between Karzai and US officials may make the Taliban more sympathetic to Karzai then they were last week.
One might conclude that the above essay is a rambling way of conveying that the peace jirga won’t work unless Hamid Karzai has much more freedom to criticize the US. However, anyone conveying bad news needs to somehow have a hopeful carrot attached to it. I hope I have inspired others to write similar pieces, maybe with an email link as a comment to this article, even on the subject of the economy which I also know is a subject of choosing between grim choices and/or a few far away utopian solutions, war and war spending and the economy overlapping issues.
There is somehow a primitive desire to look strong not weak that encompasses every American President that makes sense when it comes to al Qaeda, but not Karzai and I believe not Iran or Mullah Omar. Both Karzai and Mullah Omar never embraced the random mayhem many warlords specialized in, and since he initiated a Taliban code of ethics he would be a better ruler then most Afghans. Let’s give him the power and prestige to control the soldiers from finding employment in the only profession they ever knew. Anyway, without criticizing Obama I want to urge him to temporally stop the drone war and give Afghan President Karzai’s peace efforts as the reason why.
For supporting links, scan this somewhat similar essays,
www.phillyimc.org/en/peace-leader-killed-1000-us-deaths-other-bad-news-about-war
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/50377
http://RichardKanepa.blogspot.com
Richard Kane is retired in Philladelphia PA
Read more!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Peacemaker Afghan Pres Karzai needs our help, Peace "Jirag" is May 2
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been doing a lot of peace efforts, and needs urgent support for his May 2, 2010, peace gathering, or jirga. Karzai actually met with the local elders in Kandahar and agreed to stop the latest offensive, the US trying to get around it with a slow buildup,
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/04/01/insurgents-welcome-at-afghan-peace-jirga-in-may/
Somehow circumstances made it hard to honor his many peace efforts. When the Soviets left Afghanistan the world didn’t want to admit that a bloodbath was taking place over rebels fighting over who was in charge, thus Karzai’s peace efforts were ignored. He was arrested in 1994 while trying to mediate a cease-fire. Unfortunately instead of Karzai a peacemaker, one has to google "CIA prisoner believed to have rescued Karzai" for the details. His many calls to the Taliban for peace negotiations were usually met with "We won’t negotiate with a traitor" so praising these efforts would convey the idea that the Taliban didn’t want peace, something peace activists would not want to do. Finally the top Taliban supporting warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar agreed to comprehensive peace negotiations. Most would prefer that Mullah Omar would be in charge of power sharing. Mullah Omar refused to unequivocally denounce and agree to never to harbor al Qaeda like Hekmatyar agreed to, which is a key US demand and a key Saudi demand, Saudi Arabia somehow involved. Omar has spoke up against al Qaeda tactics with his strict code of ethics, (Google Taliban code of ethics with the NY Times), but Omar won’t specifically denounce bin Laden fearing an attack on shopping bazaars and mosques by al Qaeda getting even, like they are doing in Iraq with the on-going attacks against those Sunnis who ending up changing sides and joined with the Americans. Mullah Omar has been so careful to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties that when the central Afghan bank was failed to be penetrated, the suicide-vested bombers didn’t blow up on the crowded street, instead retreated to the shopping bazaar complex next door, and ordered everyone out instead of shooting at shoppers, holing up for hours, google it with the NY Times for some reluctant praise.
In 2007 Hamid Karzai first urged that the US avoid civilian casualties,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202757.html?hpid=sec-world
General McChrystal is bragging about less civilian casualties, Hamid Karzai and Mullah Omar are on the same wavelength. The US troops would be more brutal if while wandering around they would be snipped at instead of only in the heat of battle, or while chasing the Taliban.
The US peace movement is fixated on Vietnam War history comparing Karzai with Diem, read their biographies in Wikipedia for their vast differences. Karzai married a women working with Afghan refuges, and definitely doesn’t treat her like a slave. Ngo Dinh Diem represented the small Vietnamese Catholic community, while Karzai represented those who wanted the king to return, the largest anti-Taliban group. Diem wanted to fight with Ho Chi Minh opposing Ho’s Marxist atheism, but ended up attacking Buddhists as well. Karzai preferred to compromise not fight ever since the Russians left. Diem more brutal, not less brutal than his US supporters. Karzai’s recent attempts to compromise a little, with Taliban ethics, is in pursuit of peace. Karzai’s father and one brother was killed by the Taliban for supporting the idea of the king returning. He has as much reason to be full of hate as other Afghans instead he is a sea of if not
Incidentally I won’t let pass, the accusation that Karzai’s brother is an evil drug dealing warlord. Karzai rented property to the CIA and then paid the local Taliban not to attack it, paid them not to attack polling places in the last election etc. Basically the US poured money at him, which he partly gave to the local Taliban to not attack. How drugs fit into the picture I don’t know but we can all see what happens such as in Mexico when no one is throwing money around urging dealers and the police to be less violent, with themselves and each other.
Incidentally I left out how both India and Pakistan both want peace and get in the way of peace while they squabble over whether Afghanistan should be partial to India or Pakistan. However trying to avoid destructive gossip is why other peace sites end up avoiding talking about Hamid Karzai’s peace efforts,
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P14Z?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel
If President Obama listened to the shill parts of the peace movement and just left, and infighting over who was in charge shattered the relative peace civilians are now experiencing with Omar, McChrystal, and Karzai avoiding mayhem, it will be bad news indeed. If the peace movements would help Karzai make peace, it might get Obama back on track of working for a more peaceful world for us all.
Please google, "Western Peace Activists Ignore Real Afghan Peace Efforts"and click on,
readersupportednews.org/godot-recent
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-war/1473-peace-movement-betrays-afghan-president-karzai
By Richard Kane, RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
Read more!
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/04/01/insurgents-welcome-at-afghan-peace-jirga-in-may/
Somehow circumstances made it hard to honor his many peace efforts. When the Soviets left Afghanistan the world didn’t want to admit that a bloodbath was taking place over rebels fighting over who was in charge, thus Karzai’s peace efforts were ignored. He was arrested in 1994 while trying to mediate a cease-fire. Unfortunately instead of Karzai a peacemaker, one has to google "CIA prisoner believed to have rescued Karzai" for the details. His many calls to the Taliban for peace negotiations were usually met with "We won’t negotiate with a traitor" so praising these efforts would convey the idea that the Taliban didn’t want peace, something peace activists would not want to do. Finally the top Taliban supporting warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar agreed to comprehensive peace negotiations. Most would prefer that Mullah Omar would be in charge of power sharing. Mullah Omar refused to unequivocally denounce and agree to never to harbor al Qaeda like Hekmatyar agreed to, which is a key US demand and a key Saudi demand, Saudi Arabia somehow involved. Omar has spoke up against al Qaeda tactics with his strict code of ethics, (Google Taliban code of ethics with the NY Times), but Omar won’t specifically denounce bin Laden fearing an attack on shopping bazaars and mosques by al Qaeda getting even, like they are doing in Iraq with the on-going attacks against those Sunnis who ending up changing sides and joined with the Americans. Mullah Omar has been so careful to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties that when the central Afghan bank was failed to be penetrated, the suicide-vested bombers didn’t blow up on the crowded street, instead retreated to the shopping bazaar complex next door, and ordered everyone out instead of shooting at shoppers, holing up for hours, google it with the NY Times for some reluctant praise.
In 2007 Hamid Karzai first urged that the US avoid civilian casualties,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202757.html?hpid=sec-world
General McChrystal is bragging about less civilian casualties, Hamid Karzai and Mullah Omar are on the same wavelength. The US troops would be more brutal if while wandering around they would be snipped at instead of only in the heat of battle, or while chasing the Taliban.
The US peace movement is fixated on Vietnam War history comparing Karzai with Diem, read their biographies in Wikipedia for their vast differences. Karzai married a women working with Afghan refuges, and definitely doesn’t treat her like a slave. Ngo Dinh Diem represented the small Vietnamese Catholic community, while Karzai represented those who wanted the king to return, the largest anti-Taliban group. Diem wanted to fight with Ho Chi Minh opposing Ho’s Marxist atheism, but ended up attacking Buddhists as well. Karzai preferred to compromise not fight ever since the Russians left. Diem more brutal, not less brutal than his US supporters. Karzai’s recent attempts to compromise a little, with Taliban ethics, is in pursuit of peace. Karzai’s father and one brother was killed by the Taliban for supporting the idea of the king returning. He has as much reason to be full of hate as other Afghans instead he is a sea of if not
Incidentally I won’t let pass, the accusation that Karzai’s brother is an evil drug dealing warlord. Karzai rented property to the CIA and then paid the local Taliban not to attack it, paid them not to attack polling places in the last election etc. Basically the US poured money at him, which he partly gave to the local Taliban to not attack. How drugs fit into the picture I don’t know but we can all see what happens such as in Mexico when no one is throwing money around urging dealers and the police to be less violent, with themselves and each other.
Incidentally I left out how both India and Pakistan both want peace and get in the way of peace while they squabble over whether Afghanistan should be partial to India or Pakistan. However trying to avoid destructive gossip is why other peace sites end up avoiding talking about Hamid Karzai’s peace efforts,
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P14Z?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel
If President Obama listened to the shill parts of the peace movement and just left, and infighting over who was in charge shattered the relative peace civilians are now experiencing with Omar, McChrystal, and Karzai avoiding mayhem, it will be bad news indeed. If the peace movements would help Karzai make peace, it might get Obama back on track of working for a more peaceful world for us all.
Please google, "Western Peace Activists Ignore Real Afghan Peace Efforts"and click on,
readersupportednews.org/godot-recent
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-war/1473-peace-movement-betrays-afghan-president-karzai
By Richard Kane, RichardKanePA.blogspot.com
Read more!
US Peace Activists Ignore Real Afghan Peace Efforts
Afghan President Karzai is organizing a large peace Jamboree, conference and jirga starting May 2. He has rejected an assult on Kandahar first like the US wanted after he met with elders there. However, US officials are hinting of a slow buildup instead. Karzai has made some peace breakthroughs especially with former top Taliban supporting warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. In several ways the attack on Kandahar would be a major escalation of the war. Alert peace activist reporting could slow this until after Karzai tries to obtain peace
www.sananews.net/english/2010/04/01/insurgents-welcome-at-afghan-peace-jirga-in-may/
Rep. Kucinich's peace lobby is totally ignoring anything that might distract from setting a firm future end date for war funding seemingly oblivious to the fact that a negotiated settlement may be in the wind, especially if the US peace movement got on board. Congress won't end war funding any time soon unless there is an unrelated crisis during the vote such as an economic collapse in Greece, economic brinkmanship by China or unexpected bad domestic news at the same time as the vote. If Kucinich started demanding that the invasion of Kandahar be postponed or stopped until after the peace conference, real peace might be at hand. Of course Obama is already accused of being a softy by the Vice President Cheney crowd so if the US Peace Movement lobbied the European Peace Movement especially in Germany and England to lobby their countries to leave Afghanistan unless the assault on Kandahar is delayed or stopped, peace may be even more likely. At the moment the European peace movement is lobbying their countries to just leave. But if they got involved in the politics real peace could be more successfully be achieved. Anyway, people in Kandahar would really appreciate this. For comprehensive details google, "Peace Activists Betray Afghan President Karzai"
We in the West think non-Westerners can't be peace activists since we seem to have begun to forget about Gandhi's nonviolent revolution in India.
However, there have been circumstantial reasons why Hamid Karzai's many peace efforts have not been acknowledged. In 1994 he was arrested by Afghan police as he tried to negotiate an end to the bloodbath from rebel infighting. The rest of the world refused to look at this bloodbath because acknowledging a bloodbath occurred after the Russians left might make the Russians look good,
www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/04/07/cia_prisoner_believed_to_have_rescued_karzai
Karzai became head of Afghanistan at the international conference on Afghanistan in Germany in 2001. He was the leader of the faction that wanted the king to return. He made numerous attempts to negotiate peace with the Taliban whose usual answer was that he was a traitor not worth negotiating with. Again the western peace movement didn't note Karzai's peace efforts since they didn't want to spread the idea that the Taliban doesn't want peace.
Hamid Karzai asked Saudi Arabia to be the mediator, but they answered not until Mullah Omar first renounces bin Laden and promises never to harbor al Qaeda. Omar renounces al Qaeda's brutal tactics but won't renounce al Qaeda because he doesn't want al Qaeda to attack him like they did the Sunnis in Iraq who quit fighting the Americans. After al Qaeda attacked them those Sunnis ended up fighting along side the Americans. To this day, al Qaeda in Iraq is scheduling brutal revenge attacks against those Sunnis who sided with the Americans.
In January the UN asked that the Taliban be taken off the terrorist list to facilitate the backdoor meetings they were having with the Taliban,
www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P14Z?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563%C2%A0
The US complied partly by taking four retired Taliban officials off the list, who made benchmark negotiations or comments depending on whose interpretation, such as no night raids in return for no road bombs. This stopped when Pakistan arrested a top Mullah Omar aid Mullah Baradar. Afghan President Karzai complained bitterly that arresting Baradar got in the way of the back door peace feelers Baradar was making to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan refused to return Mullah Baradar to Afghanistan like President Karzai demanded.
Finally top Taliban siding warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar entered into comprehensive peace negations with Karzai and Karzai thought the war might soon be over. Hekmatyar controlled territory in northern Afghanistan is far from any al Qaeda members so his vow to arrest any al Qaeda members who came there doesn't mean much. Al Qaeda bloggers instead of calling Hekmatyar a despicable traitor mentioned that he changed sides frequently and mused that he will probably be on al Qaeda's side again as circumstances change. Unfortunately this doesn't mean that Omar who has philosophical differences with al Qaeda disagreeing with bin Laden's brutal tactics can go on to totally denounce al Qaeda without being attacked by them. If he repeated Hekmatyar's anti al Qaeda comments, if al Qaeda couldn't reach him they might attack mosques, bazaars and funerals like al Qaeda liked to do in Iraq.
Peace organizations seem to have two jobs, one is raising money, and one is promoting peace. Dealing with convoluted intertwined Afghan peace efforts won't bring in funds the way trying to set a firm Afghan war funding cut off date will.
There is some good news that may end up bad news in the end. The US really is killing far less civilians than it did in Iraq, and as I noted above there are no tit-for-tat ethnic reprisals between Sunnis and Shiites today in Afghanistan that used to happen in Iraq, (note the Taliban used to be brutal toward Sunnis).
Israel's last incursion into Palestine shows what not avoiding civilian casualties looks like, no one had praised Israel for restraint in earlier wars. Recent wars in Africa led to even greater civilian bloodbaths. This isn't occurring in Afghanistan because we hear General McChrystal carefully avoids civilian casualties. But Karzai also avoids civilian casualties and constantly complains that the US isn't doing enough, and Mullah Omar also has a strict code of ethics. The most noted example being when the Central Afghan bank wasn't successfully penetrated the suicide-vested attackers didn't blow themselves up on the crowded street in front of the bank but retreated next door to the shopping bazaar complex, ordering everyone out and holding up for hours, not even blowing the bazaar up.
However mass civilian deaths like in other wars could occur if Karzai dies or is out of power, if Omar dies, maybe if Omar does renounce al Qaeda and al Qaeda responds by attacking mosques and bazaars, or there is economic turmoil in the US meaning a firm cut off date and the US leaving without any agreement on what will come next.
Somehow the NY Times ignored Karzai's praise of Iran and Ahmadinejad speaking before the Afghan Parliament until much later when Karzai entered into peace negotiations with Taliban supporting warlord Hekmatyar. Suddenly when negotiations with Hekmatyar started State Department officials began complaining about corruption again in an election system that is so flawed that even UN observers refused to note that husbands were casting their wives' votes.
Peace will likely come and President Obama will be back on the peace track if Dennis Kucinich acknowledges that Hamid Karzai is a peace activist, or if the European peace movement instead of demanding that German and British troops just get out, that they instead get out the moment the US defy's President Karzai again.
There is important Vietnam war history that historians and activists avoid talking about, such as, as the Vietnam War lingered, frustrated hawks began calling for "Nuke Vietnam", these picket signs were at pro-war rallies toward the end of the Vietnam War. In the end, Paul Harvey News came out with "Win or Get Out" which became very popular with the former pro-war circle. Frank Ford, the husband of the former Philadelphia DA, lead the "win or get out" movement locally. Today, as time goes on, less and less people will favor Obama emptying our treasury on the Afghan War. Hawks will say stop worrying about civilian casualties as doves urge that the US get out. By the 2012 election Hawks will demand that the US carpet bomb Afghanistan ever more angry at General McChrystal, Afghan President Karzai and Obama for avoiding civilian casualties. Doves will win out unless a terror attack leads to a George Wallace type more shrill than Glenn Beck seeking the White House. Thought that George Wallace substitute probably won't get elected. If the US leaves Afghanistan without a comprehensive peace treaty and revenge killings follow some voters may hold those voting for the Kucinich resolution responsible. If the European peace movement suddenly became interested in negotiations not a quick exit of their country's troops, they might be able to get the world and Obama back on track again. The Afghan War may be like a roach glue trap where there is no way to win anything and no way to get out. Karzai comes from an intellectual background. He married his wife a fellow intellectual not a slave. He has a lot of political skill. I trust he is more likely to know what's best in relation to what is possible than anyone else.
Hamad Karzai's father and brother were killed by the Taliban. He has as much reason to be angry as most Afghans, under the circumstances he is truly a man of peace. Whatever deal he can work out with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar is probably the best deal available for his country.
For a different version perspectives see,
http://www.readersupportednews.org/godot-recent
"Peace Movement Betrays President Karzai",
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-war/1473-peace-movement-betrays-afghan-president-karzai
by Richard Kane RichardKanePa.blogspot.com
Read more!
www.sananews.net/english/2010/04/01/insurgents-welcome-at-afghan-peace-jirga-in-may/
Rep. Kucinich's peace lobby is totally ignoring anything that might distract from setting a firm future end date for war funding seemingly oblivious to the fact that a negotiated settlement may be in the wind, especially if the US peace movement got on board. Congress won't end war funding any time soon unless there is an unrelated crisis during the vote such as an economic collapse in Greece, economic brinkmanship by China or unexpected bad domestic news at the same time as the vote. If Kucinich started demanding that the invasion of Kandahar be postponed or stopped until after the peace conference, real peace might be at hand. Of course Obama is already accused of being a softy by the Vice President Cheney crowd so if the US Peace Movement lobbied the European Peace Movement especially in Germany and England to lobby their countries to leave Afghanistan unless the assault on Kandahar is delayed or stopped, peace may be even more likely. At the moment the European peace movement is lobbying their countries to just leave. But if they got involved in the politics real peace could be more successfully be achieved. Anyway, people in Kandahar would really appreciate this. For comprehensive details google, "Peace Activists Betray Afghan President Karzai"
We in the West think non-Westerners can't be peace activists since we seem to have begun to forget about Gandhi's nonviolent revolution in India.
However, there have been circumstantial reasons why Hamid Karzai's many peace efforts have not been acknowledged. In 1994 he was arrested by Afghan police as he tried to negotiate an end to the bloodbath from rebel infighting. The rest of the world refused to look at this bloodbath because acknowledging a bloodbath occurred after the Russians left might make the Russians look good,
www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/04/07/cia_prisoner_believed_to_have_rescued_karzai
Karzai became head of Afghanistan at the international conference on Afghanistan in Germany in 2001. He was the leader of the faction that wanted the king to return. He made numerous attempts to negotiate peace with the Taliban whose usual answer was that he was a traitor not worth negotiating with. Again the western peace movement didn't note Karzai's peace efforts since they didn't want to spread the idea that the Taliban doesn't want peace.
Hamid Karzai asked Saudi Arabia to be the mediator, but they answered not until Mullah Omar first renounces bin Laden and promises never to harbor al Qaeda. Omar renounces al Qaeda's brutal tactics but won't renounce al Qaeda because he doesn't want al Qaeda to attack him like they did the Sunnis in Iraq who quit fighting the Americans. After al Qaeda attacked them those Sunnis ended up fighting along side the Americans. To this day, al Qaeda in Iraq is scheduling brutal revenge attacks against those Sunnis who sided with the Americans.
In January the UN asked that the Taliban be taken off the terrorist list to facilitate the backdoor meetings they were having with the Taliban,
www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE60P14Z?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563%C2%A0
The US complied partly by taking four retired Taliban officials off the list, who made benchmark negotiations or comments depending on whose interpretation, such as no night raids in return for no road bombs. This stopped when Pakistan arrested a top Mullah Omar aid Mullah Baradar. Afghan President Karzai complained bitterly that arresting Baradar got in the way of the back door peace feelers Baradar was making to Saudi Arabia. Pakistan refused to return Mullah Baradar to Afghanistan like President Karzai demanded.
Finally top Taliban siding warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar entered into comprehensive peace negations with Karzai and Karzai thought the war might soon be over. Hekmatyar controlled territory in northern Afghanistan is far from any al Qaeda members so his vow to arrest any al Qaeda members who came there doesn't mean much. Al Qaeda bloggers instead of calling Hekmatyar a despicable traitor mentioned that he changed sides frequently and mused that he will probably be on al Qaeda's side again as circumstances change. Unfortunately this doesn't mean that Omar who has philosophical differences with al Qaeda disagreeing with bin Laden's brutal tactics can go on to totally denounce al Qaeda without being attacked by them. If he repeated Hekmatyar's anti al Qaeda comments, if al Qaeda couldn't reach him they might attack mosques, bazaars and funerals like al Qaeda liked to do in Iraq.
Peace organizations seem to have two jobs, one is raising money, and one is promoting peace. Dealing with convoluted intertwined Afghan peace efforts won't bring in funds the way trying to set a firm Afghan war funding cut off date will.
There is some good news that may end up bad news in the end. The US really is killing far less civilians than it did in Iraq, and as I noted above there are no tit-for-tat ethnic reprisals between Sunnis and Shiites today in Afghanistan that used to happen in Iraq, (note the Taliban used to be brutal toward Sunnis).
Israel's last incursion into Palestine shows what not avoiding civilian casualties looks like, no one had praised Israel for restraint in earlier wars. Recent wars in Africa led to even greater civilian bloodbaths. This isn't occurring in Afghanistan because we hear General McChrystal carefully avoids civilian casualties. But Karzai also avoids civilian casualties and constantly complains that the US isn't doing enough, and Mullah Omar also has a strict code of ethics. The most noted example being when the Central Afghan bank wasn't successfully penetrated the suicide-vested attackers didn't blow themselves up on the crowded street in front of the bank but retreated next door to the shopping bazaar complex, ordering everyone out and holding up for hours, not even blowing the bazaar up.
However mass civilian deaths like in other wars could occur if Karzai dies or is out of power, if Omar dies, maybe if Omar does renounce al Qaeda and al Qaeda responds by attacking mosques and bazaars, or there is economic turmoil in the US meaning a firm cut off date and the US leaving without any agreement on what will come next.
Somehow the NY Times ignored Karzai's praise of Iran and Ahmadinejad speaking before the Afghan Parliament until much later when Karzai entered into peace negotiations with Taliban supporting warlord Hekmatyar. Suddenly when negotiations with Hekmatyar started State Department officials began complaining about corruption again in an election system that is so flawed that even UN observers refused to note that husbands were casting their wives' votes.
Peace will likely come and President Obama will be back on the peace track if Dennis Kucinich acknowledges that Hamid Karzai is a peace activist, or if the European peace movement instead of demanding that German and British troops just get out, that they instead get out the moment the US defy's President Karzai again.
There is important Vietnam war history that historians and activists avoid talking about, such as, as the Vietnam War lingered, frustrated hawks began calling for "Nuke Vietnam", these picket signs were at pro-war rallies toward the end of the Vietnam War. In the end, Paul Harvey News came out with "Win or Get Out" which became very popular with the former pro-war circle. Frank Ford, the husband of the former Philadelphia DA, lead the "win or get out" movement locally. Today, as time goes on, less and less people will favor Obama emptying our treasury on the Afghan War. Hawks will say stop worrying about civilian casualties as doves urge that the US get out. By the 2012 election Hawks will demand that the US carpet bomb Afghanistan ever more angry at General McChrystal, Afghan President Karzai and Obama for avoiding civilian casualties. Doves will win out unless a terror attack leads to a George Wallace type more shrill than Glenn Beck seeking the White House. Thought that George Wallace substitute probably won't get elected. If the US leaves Afghanistan without a comprehensive peace treaty and revenge killings follow some voters may hold those voting for the Kucinich resolution responsible. If the European peace movement suddenly became interested in negotiations not a quick exit of their country's troops, they might be able to get the world and Obama back on track again. The Afghan War may be like a roach glue trap where there is no way to win anything and no way to get out. Karzai comes from an intellectual background. He married his wife a fellow intellectual not a slave. He has a lot of political skill. I trust he is more likely to know what's best in relation to what is possible than anyone else.
Hamad Karzai's father and brother were killed by the Taliban. He has as much reason to be angry as most Afghans, under the circumstances he is truly a man of peace. Whatever deal he can work out with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Mullah Omar is probably the best deal available for his country.
For a different version perspectives see,
http://www.readersupportednews.org/godot-recent
"Peace Movement Betrays President Karzai",
http://readersupportednews.org/pm-section/21-war/1473-peace-movement-betrays-afghan-president-karzai
by Richard Kane RichardKanePa.blogspot.com
Read more!
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