Citizen G'kar: Musings on Earth

November 25, 2009

Obama Vows to Finish Job

Obama is playing with fire in what will be now remembered as Obama's war. The military situation is untenable. The opium poppy production is out of control, again. Apparently he's decided by bribing everyone in Afghanistan, he can protect the troops. But what his military objectives will be have to wait until next week.

Informed Comment: Obama Vows to Finish Job; <br> Heroin Trade Thrives; <br> Afghanistan, Inc.?

070822-A-6849A-667 -- Scouts from 2nd Battalio...Image via Wikipedia


"As for Obama's hope that the US public will rally around the flag, I wouldn't count on it over the medium to long term. His Democratic base is tired of war and of our quasi-martial-law state of siege. If he wants their support, he has to fight an extremely abbreviated war.

So I think it is entirely possible that Obama will be 0 for 2 if he escalates in Afghanistan. And it is extremely dangerous for him to go on alienating his base, which wants peace and prosperity, with policies that make rightwing Republicans happy-- coddling bankers in a jobless recovery and an escalation of an eight-year-old, increasingly unpopular war. The rightwing Republicans will vote for these measures in Congress, but put the blame on Obama for them, and benefit from Democratic disillusionment in 2012."

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November 24, 2009

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan

The Bush legacy continues under Obama. There has been very little change in Washington.

Blackwater's Secret War in Pakistan - The Nation

Northern Pakistan.Image via Wikipedia

"At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, 'snatch and grabs' of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help direct a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus."
The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so "compartmentalized" that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.
[..]
A former senior executive at Blackwater confirmed the military intelligence source's claim that the company is working in Pakistan for the CIA and JSOC, the premier counterterrorism and covert operations force within the military. He said that Blackwater is also working for the Pakistani government on a subcontract with an Islamabad-based security firm that puts US Blackwater operatives on the ground with Pakistani forces in counter-terrorism operations, including house raids and border interdictions, in the North-West Frontier Province and elsewhere in Pakistan. This arrangement, the former executive said, allows the Pakistani government to utilize former US Special Operations forces who now work for Blackwater while denying an official US military presence in the country. He also confirmed that Blackwater has a facility in Karachi and has personnel deployed elsewhere in Pakistan. The former executive spoke on condition of anonymity.

His account and that of the military intelligence source were borne out by a US military source who has knowledge of Special Forces actions in Pakistan and Afghanistan. When asked about Blackwater's covert work for JSOC in Pakistan, this source, who also asked for anonymity, told The Nation, "From my information that I have, that is absolutely correct," adding, "There's no question that's occurring."

"It wouldn't surprise me because we've outsourced nearly everything," said Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, who served as Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff from 2002 to 2005, when told of Blackwater's role in Pakistan. Wilkerson said that during his time in the Bush administration, he saw the beginnings of Blackwater's involvement with the sensitive operations of the military and CIA. "Part of this, of course, is an attempt to get around the constraints the Congress has placed on DoD. If you don't have sufficient soldiers to do it, you hire civilians to do it. I mean, it's that simple. It would not surprise me."

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November 20, 2009

What Makes a Young Person Embrace Death and Murder? Former Jihadists Speak Out

Want to understand how a Jihadi thinks? Here is an excellent in-depth article from one of the premiere progressive news sources in America.

What Makes a Young Person Embrace Death and Murder? Former Jihadists Speak Out | World | AlterNet:
LONDON, ENGLAND APRIL 3: A composite of undate...Image by Getty Images via Daylife
So when he was 13, he joined an Islamic fundamentalist organisation called Jimas. At big sociable conferences every weekend, they were told: you don't feel at home in Britain, but you can't go "home" to a country you have never visited. So we have a third identity for you – a pan-national Islamism that knows no boundaries and can envelop you entirely.
It sounds familiar. This is the identity I hear shouted by young Islamists throughout the East End: I might sound like you, but I am nothing like you. I am Other. I belong elsewhere – in a place that does not yet exist, but that I will create, with my fists and my fury.
Jimas told their members they were part of a persecuted billion, being blown up and locked down across the world. "It was a bit like a gang," he says. "And we had a strong sense of being under siege. It was all a conspiracy against Islam, and we were the guardians of Islam. That's how we saw ourselves ... A lot of my friends would wear the army boots, and carry knives." I realise now that for a nebbish intellectual boy, it must have felt intoxicating to be told he was part of a military movement that would inevitably conquer history.

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November 18, 2009

More Change We Can't Believe In

Artist Captures Recession Times...Image by MyEyeSees via Flickr
Obama really is flobbing the economy. And we all will pay for it, except of course for the Bankers.

The AIG report - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com:

"Brad DeLong says that the loss of public trust due to the kid-gloves treatment of bankers has raised the probability of another Great Depression, because the public won’t support another round of bailouts even if it becomes desperately necessary. I agree — but I think the bigger cost is that we’ve greatly increased the chance of a Japanese-style lost decade, with I would now give roughly even odds of happening. Why? Because bank-friendly policies have squandered public trust in all government action: try talking to the general public about stimulus, and it’s all confounded in their minds with the deeply unpopular bailouts."
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November 17, 2009

Why Won't Obama Give You a Job?

Trinity church from Wall Street.Image via Wikipedia
I don't know about you, but I don't see "Change We Can Believe In" coming from the White House.

t r u t h o u t | Why Won't Obama Give You a Job?:

"The stimulus plan passed earlier this year appears to have been too modest in scope, as many economists warned at the time. While it helped halt the economy’s free-fall collapse, unemployment still topped 10.2 percent last week, and analysts warn us that “bleak data point to a stark future for job seekers and employers.”

But while caution’s prevailed in Washington when it comes to bailing out “Main Street,” Wall Street’s enjoyed a degree of socialism that would make Hugo Chavez blush. The Obama administration has essentially continued Bush’s policy of loading up dump trucks with tax dollars at the Treasury and dropping them on the banks with little oversight and next to no strings attached."
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Recession causes more families to go without food | McClatchy

This is unacceptable in the most wealthy country in the world. Who says greed doesn't run America?

Recession causes more families to go without food | McClatchy:


"The number of U.S. households that are struggling to feed their members jumped by 4 million to 17 million last year, as recession-fueled job losses and increased poverty and unemployment fueled a surge in hunger, a government survey reported Monday.

These 'food-insecure' households represent about 49 million people and make up 14.6 percent, or more than one in seven, of all U.S. households. That's the highest rate since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began monitoring the issue in 1995.
Additionally, more than one-third of these struggling families — some 6.7 million households, or 17.2 million people last year — had "very low food security," in which food intake was reduced and eating patterns were disrupted for some family members because of a lack of food.
"
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November 16, 2009

World has only ten years to control global warming, warns Met Office

Greenhouse gas intensity in 2000 Data from the...Image via Wikipedia
» World has only ten years to control global warming, warns Met Office: "n the first study of its kind, climate scientists looked at how much pollution the world could afford to produce between now and the end of the century in order to keep temperature rises within a “safe limit”.

A number of different scenarios were run and the most likely outcome was that carbon dioxide from factories and cars peaked somewhere between 2010 and 2020 and then fell rapidly to zero by 2100."

In the worse-case scenario, modelled by the Met Office Hadley Centre, emissions had to turn negative by 2050 to stand any chance of keeping the temperature rise below 2C (3.6F). This would mean using “geo-engineering” such as artificial trees that are designed to suck carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.
The five-year Ensembles Project is funded by the European Commission and led by the Met Office. It brings together scientists from 66 institutions around the world.
The new research developed five climate models that predicted how much greenhouse gas could be produced by mankind, as well as naturally from plants, the oceans and soil, before concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere caused temperatures to rise more than 2C.
The models assumed that the maximum concentration of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) in the atmosphere could not go beyond 450 parts per million (ppm), even though it is already close to 400 ppm now.
Paul van der Linden, director of the project, said it would be tough for the world to keep temperature rises within a safe limit.
“To limit global mean temperature [increases] to below 2C, implied emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere at the end of the century fall close to zero in most cases,” he said.
Mr van der Linden said the study highlighted how important it was for the world to agree an international deal in Copenhagen this December that forced both rich and poor countries to cut emissions.
“It is a question that affects every human being but it is up to the politicians now to make the pragmatic decisions on the lifestyle changes and technology needed to solve this problem,” he added.
The Ensembles Project has also predicted the effect of an average 2C temperature rise in Europe over the next century on agriculture, health, energy, water resources and insurance. Regional variations would imply under such an average rise that temperatures could be up by 4C in areas of north-west Europe including the UK. Winter wind storms, forest fires, heatwaves, water shortages and flooding were predicted. Wheat yields would go up in some areas but there would be drought elsewhere. Animal diseases and pests were expected to spread.
The models highlighted concerns that certain countries would lose their national dishes. For example a low durum wheat yield in Italy could make pasta more expensive while in Poland potato crops were under threat.
Dan Norris, the Environment Minister, said the work by the Met Office was helping scientists around the world to prepare for climate change.
“Not only do we need to tackle the causes of climate change but we must deal with the consequences,” he said.
The finals results of the project will be presented at a symposium at the Met Office on Monday.
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November 06, 2009

Saudi: Airstrikes near Yemen targeted infiltrators

The Saudi-Yemen border heats up. The conflict is not between the two countries, but that Yemen can't control it's own border. The two countries share a concern about Shiite insurgents funded by Tehran.

Saudi: Airstrikes near Yemen Targeted Infiltrators:
Location of RiyadhImage via Wikipedia
"Saudi Arabia said Friday it carried out airstrikes against 'infiltrators' from Yemen that were limited to areas inside Saudi territory, and vowed to press on with the military action until the border with its restive neighbor was secure.

The statement, carried by the official Saudi Press Agency, did not identify the infiltrators or address claims by Arab diplomats on Thursday that the strikes hit across the boundary, targeting Shiite rebels who have been battling Yemeni government forces for the past few months in Yemen's northern Saada province."

The SPA statement stressed the Saudi military action was confined to areas within the kingdom's borders.

In Yemen, however, a military official said Saudi forces on Friday continued to shell rebel positions in Saada. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists.

Regardless of the location of the bombardment, the offensive threatens to embroil Riyadh in a conflict that has for months been a major source of worry for the oil-rich kingdom.

Riyadh has been concerned about a spillover of the Yemeni fighting, of Iran's alleged involvement in the conflict and of the possibility that Yemen-based al-Qaida militants could capitalize on the tense situation by smuggling fighters across the long and difficult-to-control border.

More broadly, it raises concerns of another proxy war in the Middle East between Iran and Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.

The Yemeni government has accused Shiite Iran of aiding the rebels while the rebels have accused Sunni Saudi Arabia, Iran's fiercest regional rival, of carrying out bombing runs against them.

The same dynamic has played out in various forms in Lebanon, where Iran supports the Shiite militant Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia favors a U.S.-backed faction, and in Iraq, where Saudi Arabia and Iran have thrown support to conflicting sides in the Sunni-Shiite fault-line.

The Arab diplomats and Yemeni rebels said Saudi fighter jets and artillery bombardments hit across the border into northern Yemen on Thursday - the first reported Saudi incursion into Yemen in years.

The northern rebels, known as Hawthis, have been battling Yemeni government forces the past few months in the latest flare-up of a sporadic five-year conflict. They claim their needs are ignored by a Yemeni government that is increasingly allied with hard-line Sunni fundamentalists, who consider Shiites heretics.

The rebels said the Saudi airstrikes hit five areas in their northern stronghold but it was not possible to independently verify the reports. They said there were dead and wounded and that homes were destroyed. The rebels' spokesman said people were afraid to get near the areas being bombed, making it difficult to count the casualties.

The SPA statement quoted an unidentified Saudi official as saying the Saudi offensive was prompted by an attack Tuesday by infiltrators from Yemen on Saudi border guards in the Mount Dokhan area that killed one Saudi soldier and wounded eleven.

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November 05, 2009

Killings by Afghan policeman shake British resolve

HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN - JULY 16: Briti...Image by Getty Images via Daylife

It would appear that Obama's War will fail. It's hard to imagine how to retrieve this one with the Taliban dominating the rural areas of the country.

Killings by Afghan policeman shake British resolve

"The deaths of five British soldiers gunned down by an Afghan policeman as they made tea after a patrol has shaken public support for the war in Afghanistan, intensifying debate about the human cost of the conflict and increasing calls for a pullout.

If British troops can't trust the Afghan colleagues they are supposed to be training, critics asked Thursday, how can they fight the Taliban? And where does it leave an exit strategy that depends on handing over control to Afghan forces?"

The deaths dominated newspaper front pages, television news shows and radio phone-ins, even as the Ministry of Defense announced the death of another British soldier Thursday in an explosion in Helmand province.

Several newspapers used the same photo, of the bloodied flak jacket of one of the victims. "Gunned down as they had tea" said the Daily Mail. "A bloody betrayal," said The Times, while the Daily Mail asked: "What kind of war is this?"

Hundreds of people used Facebook and other sites to post tributes to the dead men, who included 18-year-old Guardsman Jimmy Major of the Grenadier Guards and Regimental Sgt. Major Darren Chant, the regiment's most senior noncommissioned officer.

"I don't think we ever should have gone there," said midwife Jane Cooke, 49, expressing an increasingly common view about Afghanistan. "There is an inner conflict going on there, and it's never going to be resolved."

Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell insisted British troops must stay in Afghanistan until the country's own security forces are ready to take over.

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November 04, 2009

Iran's green movement has not given up!

Iran's green movement has not given up! Interestingly, they've asked for support from Obama. Seems like a slippery slope to play the Obama card. I'm not sure he can act on their plea without killing nuclear talks.

Tri-City Herald
Demonstrations and riots, Paris, France (place...
Image via Wikipedia

The contrasts were vivid: Pro-government supporters chanted "Death to America" and stomped on U.S. flags Wednesday while not far away, hundreds of opposition protesters denounced Iran's leaders and appealed to America's president to choose sides.
"Obama, Obama, you are either with them, or with us," the anti-government protesters chanted in Farsi, in an amateur video clip widely circulated on the Internet.
The new and startling appeal to President Barack Obama came as Iran's opposition protesters returned to the streets in large numbers for the first time in nearly two months. Authorities were ready with the same sweeping measures they used to quell fierce election-fraud protests this summer and early fall: Sending paramilitary units to key locations to fire tear gas and beat people with batons.



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November 01, 2009

How Goldman SACS secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash

Perhaps this is the beginning of the prosecutions coming.


In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices would send the value of those securities plummeting.Goldman's sales and its clandestine wagers, completed at the brink of the housing market meltdown, enabled the nation's premier investment bank to pass most of its potential losses to others before a flood of mortgage defaults staggered the U.S. and global economies.Only later did investors discover that what Goldman had promoted as triple-A rated investments were closer to junk. Now, pension funds, insurance companies, labor unions and foreign financial institutions that bought those dicey mortgage securities are facing large losses, and a five-month McClatchy investigation has found that Goldman's failure to disclose that it made secret, exotic bets on an imminent housing crash may have violated securities laws."The Securities and Exchange Commission should be very interested in any financial company that secretly decides a financial product is a loser and then goes out and actively markets that product or very similar products to unsuspecting customers without disclosing its true opinion," said Laurence Kotlikoff, a Boston University economics professor who's proposed a massive overhaul of the nation's banks. "This is fraud and should be prosecuted."

More via How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash | McClatchy.


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