Tajikistan: Government Resorts to Repression and Intimidation

Tajikistan: Government Resorts to Repression and Intimidation

Authorities in Tajikistan are resorting to repression and intimidation as they try to contain what they view as the Kyrgyz contagion. Tajik leaders are clearly concerned that the political upheaval which engulfed Kyrgyzstan in March – when popular discontent over rigged parliamentary elections culminated in the overthrow of Askar Akayev’s administration – could spread to other countries in Central Asia. Tajikistan held parliamentary elections the same day as Kyrgyzstan’s legislative vote. As in Kyrgyzstan, the Tajik voting results were criticized by Western observers and opposition supporters as flawed in favor of the incumbent administration.

Following the Tajik election, opposition leaders threatened to stage protests unless their complaints were redressed. Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov, however, has remained defiant. In his April 16 state-of-the-nation address, Rahmonov summarily dismissed election fraud complaints. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Rather than admit any wrongdoing and seek to defuse tension through dialogue, Rahmonov has gone on the political offensive.


A central element to the Tajik government’s strategy appears to be an effort hamper the ability of foreign diplomats and international aid workers to interact with local non-governmental organization activists and independent journalists. On April 14, the Tajik Foreign Ministry announced that foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations must provide prior notice of public contacts with Tajik citizens who are affiliated with political parties, NGOs and mass media outlets.

[...]
Despite the muted American response over the new rule, there is evident tension in the US-Tajik relationship, connected in part to the perception among many officials in Dushanbe that the US government was a behind-the-scenes player in the revolutions in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Washington has adamantly denied direct involvement in the revolutions.

[..]
Meanwhile, Rahmonov’s administration is clamping down on its domestic political opponents. On April 27, Tajik Prosecutor-General Bobojon Bobokhonov announced that the leader of the Democratic Party, Mahmudruzi Iskandarov, was being held in Dushanbe on charges of engaging in subversive activity.


Iskandarov originally had been taken into custody in Moscow, and held by Russian authorities for months as they considered a Tajik government extradition request. In a surprise decision on April 3, Russian officials freed Iskandarov, citing a lack of evidence. Upon his release, the Democratic Party leader said the charges against him were politically motivated, and vowed to return to Tajikistan to promote democratic change in the country.


About a week after his release in Moscow, Iskandarov disappeared from public view. How he ended up in a Dushanbe detention center remains a mystery. Bobokhonov said that authorities arrested Iskandarov on April 22, but provided no details on where he was taken into custody. Some local observers believe that Iskandarov may have been effectively kidnapped in Moscow and returned to Dushanbe.

The Bush Administration and its Neo-con think tank continue to play a covert hand in Central Asia. This article is published on a website run by the Open Society Institute-New York (OSI-NY) whose director is George Soros. Although OSI-NY as a not-for-profit properly separates itself from Soros's progressive political activities, Soros has spent billions of dollars exporting his visition of free society to the world through OSI-NY. Soros talks about his views on another site of his:
GeorgeSoros.com

Paradoxically, the most successful open society in the world, the US, does not properly understand the first principles of an open society; indeed, its current leadership actively disavows them. The concept of open society is based on the recognition that nobody possesses the ultimate truth, and that to claim otherwise leads to repression. In short, we may be wrong.


That is precisely the possibility that Bush refuses to acknowledge, and his denial appeals to a significant segment of the American public. An equally significant segment is appalled. This has left the US not only deeply divided, but also at loggerheads with much of the rest of the world, which considers our policies high-handed and arbitrary.


President Bush regards his reelection as an endorsement of his policies, and feels reinforced in his distorted view of the world. The "accountability moment" has passed, he claims, and he is ready to confront tyranny throughout the world according to his own lights.


But we cannot forego the critical process that is at the core of an open society – as we did for eighteen months after September 11, 2001. That is what has led us into the Iraq quagmire.


A better understanding of the concept of open society would require us to distinguish between promoting freedom and democracy and promoting American values and interests. If it is freedom and democracy that we want, we can foster it only by strengthening international law and international institutions.


Bush is right to assert that repressive regimes can no longer hide behind a cloak of sovereignty: what goes on inside tyrannies and failed states is of vital interest to the rest of the world. But intervention in other states' internal affairs must be legitimate, which requires clearly established rules.

Monetary End Game Continues

The Agonist | Monetary End Game Continues

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The last four years of Bush economic policy has been to weaken the US dollar, hoping that it would make US manufactured goods cheaper. The reverse has been the case, all it has done has been to make US imports more expensive. The problem is that there isn't strong demand for our most competitive manufactured export - aerospace - in a high energy environment. And yet the group think drum beat goes on.

What Newbury refers to here was an very interesting event that occurred Friday afternoon, twenty minutes before trading closed for a holiday weekend in China. The Chinese government apparently let the Yuan float relative to the dollar for the first time in a long time. China is facing inflation if they don't let the Yuan rise, and a downturn in demand if they do. It's a tough choice, but one that seems inevitable given Asia's dependence on US demand that appears softer everyday.

This reverse effect means that many of the actions which will ease the inflationary effect on oil, will exacerbate the inflationary effect on general consumer inflation. Instead of getting inflation across the board, the situation resembels the late 1920's when income for a broad section of the consuming public is falling, while prices continue to rise. The continued extension of easy credit, in both eras, allows this to continue longer than otherwise would be the case, but is creating a massive weakness in the financial system. It is not clear whether this weakness will rupture - you are only insovlent if someone calls you on it - but it is clear that this weakness will continue to pile up until such time as the basic monetary dynamic is resolved. Since nothing is being done to do this - instead we are seeing the equivalent of the "Smithsonian Agreement", to kick the can down the road a bit - it is almost certain that at some point in the not too distant future, some group will find a means to unilaterally exploit the common agreements not to crash the system.


Time is running out for a fundamental shift of policy, and since the US will not change before 2009, time is almost certain to run out.

Another economist is speaking out about the risks of deflation and the similarity of current economic conditions to the conditions of the late 1920s. In other words, the US risks a new Great Depression where income falls, credit continues to rise until the consumer has no more credit to buy. Then demand crashes and the economy spirals into a deep hole. Bush just may have a similar legacy to that of Herbert Hoover who has been blamed for the Great Depression.

US Economic Demand Will Fall, So Will the Asian Economy

With the US economy sooner or later will be faced with a major correction in demand. That means the US consumer will soon be forced to stop spending as much as they have been. A huge trade imbalence and growing debt while US household income falters makes this correction inevitable.
Worse yet, per capita income in the US is headed downward or will remain stagnant for a long time. Globalization means cheaper goods from international sources. Healthcare costs are headed up more everyday. That means extreme pressures on the wage earner to accept lower pay and fewer benefits to keep a job.
Bad enough for the US consumer, but the rest of the world will also be headed for trouble. It is vulnerable to the coming US downturn. Europe is already in a recession. Japan has been experiencing sustained deflation. India and China have been booming based on overstretched US demand soon to end. Africa is booming in small ways and maybe one of the few places left to invest in a bull market.
Stephen Roach has details on the expected impact on Asia, and their reluctance to accept the inevitable.

Job and income insecurity is still a big deal throughout Asia. That’s true in Japan, where the work force is still coping with a new social contract --- the demise of lifetime employment. It’s also the case in China, with ongoing headcount reductions in state-owned enterprises of some 8-10 million per year. In China, worker/consumer insecurities are exacerbated by the absence of a well-developed safety net, with little support from unemployment insurance, worker retraining programs, private pensions, and national social security. That pretty much says it all: Lacking in domestic consumption growth, Asia has had little choice but to go back to the well and do what it has long done best -- opt for another dose of externally led growth.

[...]
Most Asians react with sheer disbelief when I even dare to mention the possible demise of the American consumer. Never mind the juxtaposition between excess US consumption and subpar wage income generation: Consumer outlays have surged to a record 71% of GDP since 2002 versus a 67% norm over the 1975 to 2000 period, while real private sector wage and salary disbursements are up only 5% in the first 39 months of this recovery versus a 15% average increase in the five previous cycles. Nor do Asians want to hear about the excesses of the household debt cycle -- in terms of the record stock of indebtedness as a share of GDP as well as debt service payments that are near historical highs in an historically low interest rate climate. Believe it or not, one client out here was so angry with me he actually tore my chart of the vanishing personal saving rate into tiny little pieces. Asians want to believe that the income-short, saving-short, overly indebted, asset-dependent American consumer will never stop spending.


Yet in the end, there can be no mistaking the central role played by excess consumption in defining America’s current account problem: With US imports fully 61% higher than exports (as of February 2005), the only conceivable way to correct the external deficit is by a reduction in consumption-driven imports. For Asia, that spells serious trouble: If you are a believer in the coming US current account adjustment, Asia’s most important growth prop is about to meet its demise. Lacking in domestic consumption, Asia’s only hope may be nothing more than wishful thinking.

A Sad Day for Poor, Elderly and Disabled

Medicaid has been slashed in budget targets that bearly passed Congress this week. Its actual impact will not be known for months. But it is clear that many people will be left without healthcare coverage and no means to pay for it.
Missouri has already decided to end ALL Medicaid coverage. I can't imagine how they will do that without sending home thousands of poor elderly from nursing homes where they will quickly die of medical neglect. Seventy-five percent of Medicaid dollars go to nursing homes. Obviously there needs to be an alternative for a state who's poor, elderly and disabled on Medicaid amounts to more than 20% of total population, but eliminating the program is not the solution.
What a crazy world this has become. The right-wing try to force Shaivo to live against her will, while thousands will face the same fate from the right-wing budget axe. The Bush Administration seems to have taught the entire right-wing doublethink.
Daily Health Policy Report - Kaisernetwork.org

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) said, "It is unconscionable to balance the budget on the backs of our most vulnerable Americans" (AP/Las Vegas Sun, 4/28). Democrats, including Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), said savings from Medicaid and other programs were would be "squandered on new tax cuts," the Wall Street Journal reports. Spratt said, "We are just kicking the can down the road" (Rogers, Wall Street Journal, 4/29). House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said, "This budget is an assault on our values" and will "pass mountains of debt on to our children and grandchildren" (Washington Times, 4/29).

Most Americans Think Bush Lied

More hope for the electorate. Thanks to Juan Cole for this link. I didn't see any reference to this poll in NY Times, LA Times or Washington Post in the past few days. More media suppression?
Gallup: 50% of Americans Now Say Bush Deliberately Misled Them on WMDs

Half of all Americans, exactly 50%, now say the Bush administration deliberately misled Americans about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, the Gallup Organization reported this morning.

"This is the highest percentage that Gallup has found on this measure since the question was first asked in late May 2003," the pollsters observed. "At that time, 31% said the administration deliberately misled Americans. This sentiment has gradually increased over time, to 39% in July 2003, 43% in January/February 2004, and 47% in October 2004."

Also, according to the latest poll, more than half of Americans, 54%, disapprove of the way President Bush is handling the situation in Iraq, while 43% approve. In early February, Americans were more evenly divided on the way Bush was handling the situation in Iraq, with 50% approving and 48% disapproving.

Last week Gallup reported that 53% now believe that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was "not worth it." But Frank Newport, editor in chief at Gallup, recalled today that although a majority of the public began to think the Vietnam war was a mistake in the summer of 1968, the United States did not pull out of Vietnam for more than five years, after thousands of more American lives were lost.

A New Dark Age?

Every now and then the NYT resident conservative columnist has a good column. Here is one of them. You might think that a title of "A New Dark Age" may be unnecessarily "dark". Read the excerpt and my comment below.
Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Mourning Mother Russia" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/28brooks.html?th&emc=th">The New York Times > Mourning Mother Russia

When totalitarian regimes take control of a country, they destroy the bonds of civic trust and the normal patterns of social cohesion. They rule by fear, and public life becomes brutish. They pervert private and public morality.

When those totalitarian regimes fall, different parts of society recover at different rates. Some enterprising people take advantage of economic recovery, and the result of their efforts is economic growth.

But private morality, the habits of self-control and the social fabric take a lot longer to recover. So you wind up with nations in which high growth rates and lingering military power mask profound social chaos.

This is what we're seeing in Russia. It's probably what we would be seeing in Iraq even if the insurgency were under control. And most frighteningly, it could be what we will be seeing in China for decades to come.

On the surface, China looks much more impressive than Russia. But this is a country that will be living with the consequences of totalitarianism for some time. Thanks to the one-child policy, there will be hundreds of millions of elderly people without families to support them. Thanks to that same policy, and the cultural predilection for boys, there will be tens of millions of surplus single men floating around with nomarital prospects, no civilizing influences, nothing to prevent them from assembling into violent criminal bands.

At some point the power-hungry find a way to exploit social misery. At some point internal social chaos has international consequences. Fasten your seat belts. We could be in for a bumpy ride.

Throughout history, a surplus of men, especially men of military age, led to extensive wars where the surplus men were "bled" off to rebalence. Some historians argue that the predominance of adolescents in the population of Europe during the Middle Ages contributed greatly to the chaos. Below is an excerpt from a book review on a new book about the topic.

In a new book, Bare Branches: Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population (MIT Press), Valerie M. Hudson and Andrea M. den Boer warn that the spread of sex selection is giving rise to a generation of restless young men who will not find mates. History, biology, and sociology all suggest that these "surplus males" will generate high levels of crime and social disorder, the authors say. Even worse, they continue, is the possibility that the governments of India and China will build up huge armies in order to provide a safety valve for the young men's aggressive energies.

Since economics drives history, it seems very likely that some leader in China and/or India will exploit the surplus of men and start a war. Otherwise, the cost of containing them politically will be prohibitive. China already has been practicing whipping up a war fever.

Who Has The Worst Historical Record Of Human Rights - China or Japan

Here is a very interesting article by an ethnic Chinese about the current conflict between China and Japan.
Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: China's Selective Memory" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/28/opinion/28pu.html?th&emc=th">The New York Times: China's Selective Memory

If truth be told, however, China and Japan have much in common. China shares many of Japan's flaws and has yet to master some of its important strengths. We Chinese are outraged by Japan's World War II crimes - the forcing of Chinese into sexual slavery as "comfort women," the 1937 massacre of unarmed civilians in Nanking, and the experiments in biological warfare. Our indignation redoubles when the Japanese distort or paper over this record in their museums and their textbooks. But if we look honestly at ourselves - at the massacres and invasions strewn through Chinese history, or just at the suppression of protesters in recent times - and if we compare the behavior of the Japanese military with that of our own soldiers, there is not much to distinguish China from Japan.

Faith 'War' Rages in U.S., Judge Says

Wondering what all the fuss is about regarding the filibuster in the US Senate? Here is one of the Judge's own words. Is this the sort of Judge you want on a fast track to the US Supreme Court?
Faith 'War' Rages in U.S., Judge Says

Just days after a bitterly divided Senate committee voted along party lines to approve her nomination as a federal appellate court judge, California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown told an audience Sunday that people of faith were embroiled in a "war" against secular humanists who threatened to divorce America from its religious roots, according to a newspaper account of the speech.

[...]
Her comments to a gathering of Roman Catholic legal professionals in Darien, Conn., came on the same day as "Justice Sunday: Stop the Filibuster Against People of Faith," a program produced by evangelical leaders and simulcast on the Internet and in homes and churches around the country. It was designed to paint opponents of Bush's judicial nominees as intolerant of believers.

[...]
"There seems to have been no time since the Civil War that this country was so bitterly divided. It's not a shooting war, but it is a war," she said, according to a report published Monday in the Stamford Advocate.


"These are perilous times for people of faith," she said, "not in the sense that we are going to lose our lives, but in the sense that it will cost you something if you are a person of faith who stands up for what you believe in and say those things out loud."


A spokeswoman for the California Supreme Court, Lynn Holton, said no text was available because "it was a talk, not a speech." Brown's office did not dispute the newspaper's account.


The Advocate quoted Brown as lamenting that America had moved away from the religious traditions on which it was founded.


"When we move away from that, we change our whole conception of the most significant idea that America has to offer, which is this idea of human freedom and this notion of liberty," she said.


She added that atheism "handed human destiny over to the great god, autonomy, and this is quite a different idea of freedom…. Freedom then becomes willfulness."

[...]
Democrats have questioned speeches in which she called the New Deal the "triumph of our socialist revolution." She has described herself as a "true conservative" who believes that "where the government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates…. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."


Questioned in 2003 about her comments, Brown conceded that she was blunt when addressing conservative audiences.


"I don't have a speechwriter," she said. "I do these myself. And it speaks for itself."


As the article describing Brown's remarks was circulated Monday on websites and in e-mails, one advocacy group opposing Bush's nominees charged that her remarks were a timely reminder of why the California judge should not be promoted.


"It's so shocking that in the middle of this battle she would say such extraordinarily intemperate things," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Poll Says Americans Oppose Ending Filibuster

Filibuster Rule Change Opposed

...by a 2 to 1 ratio, the public rejected easing Senate rules in a way that would make it harder for Democratic senators to prevent final action on Bush's nominees. Even many Republicans were reluctant to abandon current Senate confirmation procedures: Nearly half opposed any rule changes, joining eight in 10 Democrats and seven in 10 political independents, the poll found.

Hope springs eternal. One can only hope the rest of the crap unfolded by Bush can be rolled back

Iran Continues to Meddle in Lebanon

Having extracted Syria from Lebanon, Lebanese leaders are having to deal directly with Iran about Hizbullah, it's proxy in Lebanon. Hizbullah and Iran has made it clear Hizbullah will not disarm as the Bush Administration has demanded, at least not now.
In the article below Khatami seems to threaten "civil war" if anyone attempts to force the issue. US attempts to suppress anti-US activity in the Middle East has simply stirred it to a fever pitch.
Iran seems more and more bold everyday. They control the fate of Iraq and Lebanon, why shouldn't they be bold? The US is in no position but to attempt to destabilize Iran from within.
The Daily Star - Iran gives civil war warning to Lebanon opposition

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami warned Sunday Lebanon was susceptible to another civil war and said instability in Syria could lead to chaos in Lebanon. During a meeting with visiting leading Lebanese opposition member Walid Jumblatt, Khatami said Lebanon was "vulnerable" and risked the return of civil war, the ISNA news agency reported.

[...]
Jumblatt traveled to Iran in a surprise visit Saturday. Iran is a key backer of the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah and Syria's closest ally in the region. Tehran has been vigorously opposing international pressure on Damascus and the pressure to disarm Hizbullah in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1559.


According to a leading member of Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, Wael Bou Faour, the Druze leader had headed to Iran to discuss ways in which Hizbullah could be protected. He said: "In our contacts with Khatami and the Europeans, we are trying to balance the U.S. pressure in an effort to protect Hizbullah."


Jumblatt was in Strasbourg, France last week to meet with members of the European Union Parliament also in an effort to keep the Lebanese resistance party's name off Europe's list of terrorist groups.

Rumsfeld's Lack of Preparation for Iraq Cost Many American Lives

Bush launched a voluntary war for which Rumsfeld claimed he was prepared. Of course, he believed Chalabi, the Iranian spy, that the Shia would welcome them in the streets. They couldn't have been more wrong. Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fought the US at Najaf early in the invasion.
And now our sons and daughters are being killed, maimed and wounded because they are undermanned and under equipped. No one knows how many have died because of inadequate preparation, but I'm betting a majority of the casualties were avoidable given how few casualties there were early in the war until the insurgents figured out how to hurt us.
Never should we ask our sons and daughters to lay down their lives for our country unless there is no other option. To Bush and Rumsfeld, they are so much cannon fodder to secure more oil for his "base". I'd bet very few oil men see their sons and daughters dying in Iraq.
The complete article at the links is well worth the read.


Four marines were killed in this Humvee with jury-rigged armor when it was struck by a car bomb in Ramadi last May.

Six Months in Ramadi: Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/international/middleeast/25marines.html?ex=1115092800&en=07bc95c51685c9bc&ei=5070">The New York Times > Six Months in Ramadi: Bloodied Marines Sound Off About Want of Armor and Men

On May 29, 2004, a station wagon that Iraqi insurgents had packed with C-4 explosives blew up on a highway in Ramadi, killing four American marines who died for lack of a few inches of steel.


The four were returning to camp in an unarmored Humvee that their unit had rigged with scrap metal, but the makeshift shields rose only as high as their shoulders, photographs of the Humvee show, and the shrapnel from the bomb shot over the top.

[...]
They were not the only losses for Company E during its six-month stint last year in Ramadi. In all, more than one-third of the unit's 185 troops were killed or wounded, the highest casualty rate of any company in the war, Marine Corps officials say.


In returning home, the leaders and Marine infantrymen have chosen to break an institutional code of silence and tell their story, one they say was punctuated not only by a lack of armor, but also by a shortage of men and planning that further hampered their efforts in battle, destroyed morale and ruined the careers of some of their fiercest warriors.


The saga of Company E, part of a lionized battalion nicknamed the Magnificent Bastards, is also one of fortitude and ingenuity. The marines, based at Camp Pendleton in southern California, had been asked to rid the provincial capital of one of the most persistent insurgencies, and in enduring 26 firefights, 90 mortar attacks and more than 90 homemade bombs, they shipped their dead home and powered on. Their tour has become legendary among other Marine units now serving in Iraq and facing some of the same problems.


"As marines, we are always taught that we do more with less," said Sgt. James S. King, a platoon sergeant who lost his left leg when he was blown out of the Humvee that Saturday afternoon last May. "And get the job done no matter what it takes."


The experiences of Company E's marines, pieced together through interviews at Camp Pendleton and by phone, company records and dozens of photographs taken by the marines, show they often did just that. The unit had less than half the troops who are now doing its job in Ramadi, and resorted to making dummy marines from cardboard cutouts and camouflage shirts to place in observation posts on the highway when it ran out of men. During one of its deadliest firefights, it came up short on both vehicles and troops. Marines who were stranded at their camp tried in vain to hot-wire a dump truck to help rescue their falling brothers. That day, 10 men in the unit died.


Sergeant Valerio and others had to scrounge for metal scraps to strengthen the Humvees they inherited from the National Guard, which occupied Ramadi before the marines arrived. Among other problems, the armor the marines slapped together included heavier doors that could not be latched, so they "chicken winged it" by holding them shut with their arms as they traveled.


"We were sitting out in the open, an easy target for everybody," Cpl. Toby G. Winn of Centerville, Tex., said of the shortages. "We complained about it every day, to anybody we could. They told us they were listening, but we didn't see it."

Medicaid is Being Slashed Nationwide

Medicaid is being slated to be eliminated in Missouri in three years. Tennessee will cut 320,000 from the rolls. This is all because Bush had to cut from the Federal budget to continue his war in Iraq. Defense spending is up 21% since before 9/11. In the 2006 Budget proposal, Defense is increased $20 billion not counting the $100 billion special allocations in 2004 expected in 2005. The Administration plans to cut $1 billion from expected Medicaid expenditures in 2006.
The US spends 6+ times more killing foreigners than they do on healthcare for it's poor and disabled citizens. That tells you something about our priorities.
States Rein In Health Costs

Hundreds of thousands of poor people across the nation will lose their state-subsidized health insurance in the coming months as legislators scramble to hold down the enormous — and ever-escalating — cost of Medicaid.

[...]
In Missouri, where nearly one in five residents is enrolled in Medicaid, Gov. Matt Blunt is poised to sign the most drastic overhaul of all: a bill that would eliminate the program entirely in three years.

[...]
The federal government helps pay for Medicaid, but in the coming fiscal year, the federal contribution will drop by more than $1 billion because of changes in the cost-share formula. President Bush has warned of far deeper cuts to come; he aims to reduce federal spending on Medicaid by as much as $40 billion over the next decade.

The New American Militarism

Andrew Bacevich wrote a recent book called The New American Militarism which sounds like a very interesting read. Here is a rather disturbing quote:

Since the end of the Cold War, opinion polls surveying public attitudes towards national institutions have regularly ranked the armed services first. While confidence in the executive branch, the Congress, the media and even organized religion is diminishing, confidence in the military continues to climb."

Sean Paul from The Agonist points out:

On a Burkean level, I worry about this. Why? Well, the historical minded among you will recall that in one of his essays before Napoleon rose to power in France, Burke warned the French of just such an attitude. He said it would lead to a Caesar-like man rising in their midsts.

If you are not concerned about the risk of a military coup in the US, then you are naive.

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Please fill out and return immediately.

Japan and China pledged to improve ties

International > Asia Pacific > China and Japan Leaders Pledge to Improve Relations" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/international/asia/24china.html?ex=1271995200&en=6983371ed79a1a40&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">The New York Times > China and Japan Leaders Pledge to Improve Relations

The leaders of Japan and China pledged to improve ties Saturday after weeks of escalating disputes, easing tension but not resolving some critical problems besieging relations between East Asia's big powers. After a 55-minute meeting on the sidelines of an Asia-Africa summit conference here, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan said both sides had agreed to look beyond disagreements and focus on the future.


But speaking at a separate news conference, China's top leader, Hu Jintao, sounded less optimistic, saying that Japan needed to reflect on its past and warning Tokyo not to meddle in its internal affairs by supporting Taiwan.


With both sides sending out olive branches in recent days, they appeared to soften their positions on some of the most contentious points. Mr. Koizumi did not insist on an apology or compensation for anti-Japanese vandalism in China, as Japanese diplomats had earlier. Mr. Hu did not directly demand that Mr. Koizumi stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are enshrined among Japan's war dead, as he had in their previous meeting, in November.

Koizumi made a public apology for Japan's excesses during the war, the first in a decade. Then tn this meeting that sounded more like business as usual and a way for the Chinese to discourage further demonstrations, Koizumi and Hu publicly shook hands.
But Hu's comments after the press conference and the absense of any references to Japan's new history books and Koizumi's tributes the shrine that includes war criminals speaks loudly that the basic problems have not been resolved, just put aside to maintain the mutually beneficial business relationship.
Whenever politics call for public participation in the conflict, the complaints will renew. China can't afford to be too belicose while it remains behind in military power.

Is the US Destablizing Oil Rich Southwestern Iran?

Since January 16th, I've been talking about US Special Forces activity in Iran. The US has been gradually raising the rhetoric against Iran while political leaders prepare to beat the drums and Special Forces do their work within Iran with indigenous dissent. Now if you were in the Bush Administration, where would you focus your effort at destablization? Where the oil is?
The Daily Star - Politics - Thousands rally in restive Iran oil province

Five people were killed and 310 arrested in last week's clashes in Ahvaz, a city where Iran's 3 percent Arab minority are in the majority. Iran blamed foreigners and counterrevolutionaries for the ethnic tensions, but admitted the province's development was still hampered by the devastation it suffered during the 1980-88 war with Iraq.


A senior cleric accused Israel and the United States of seeking to sow disunity. "Zionism, which partly exists in Tel Aviv but is mainly based in the White House and Washington, has plans to harm Islam by stirring disunity," Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said in his sermon at the main weekly Muslim prayers in Tehran.


State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli called on Iran "to exercise restraint" in dealing with the ethnic Arab minority and "to respect the peaceful exercise by the Iranian people of their democratic rights."

Meanwhile, the US propaganda arm, RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, shows the State Department was well aware of the history of this area and so likely very interested in fomenting unrest in the area, bordering Iraq and near Kuwait. The article clearly is fomenting increased unrest. There is one rather interesting quote in the text:

On 18 April, Amnesty International identified seven men who had been arrested and said at least 130 others were detained in the Ahvaz environs from 15-18 April. Amnesty International went on to cite "unconfirmed reports" that 29 people were killed and the authorities have cut off water, power, and telephones in parts of Ahvaz. Amnesty International also referred to extra judicial killings.

Since when does a Republican US government quote Amnesty International? Clearly they are mentioning any information that furthers its goal to destablize Iran.
Then there is another interesting reference in a Reuters article:

"We have arrested many of those behind the scenes and it became evident that they have ties to anti-government (television) channels," he said. The Tehran bureau of Qatar-based Al Jazeera television was later closed, said a senior Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry official in charge of supervising the foreign press.

I'd bet this is the line of inquiry that got Iranian government upset:
Aljazeera

Fierce clashes have broken out between Iranian military forces and ethnic Arab Iranians who are calling for an independent state in southern Iran. Sources in the region said at least three ethnic Arabs had been killed and many injured in demonstrations in the southern province of Khuzestan.


The demonstrations were called for by the London-based Popular Democratic Front of Ahwazi Arabs in Iran. More than 250 were reportedly arrested. A representative of the group, speaking to Aljazeera from London, said there were movements within and outside Iran pressing for independence of the region, home to at least three million Iranians of Arab descent. "The demonstrations to mark 80 years of Iranian occupation were peaceful but the Iranian authorities confronted the people with violent means and military force," he said. He said Iranian military units had besieged several ethnically Arab villages after the demonstration. Iranian political activist Muhammad Navaseri said Arab residents of Ahwaz, the capital of Khuzestan province, gathered on Friday morning, chanting slogans against alleged government plans to move more non-Arabs in the city.

Aljazeera must be the most restricted media company in the world. They have lost privileges in Iraq, Iran, and Saudi Arabia from time to time. When a journalistic organization finds itself under attack for political reasons, I have to pay more attention to them. Perhaps they are sharing the facts as they know them and let the chips fall where they may.

The Africa Invisible to the World

Here is a little good news. Seems rare these days. Imagine, real business opportunities in Africa. This writer blames the press for misrepresenting what goes on in Africa by reporting only the bad news.
Weekend Standard - An Africa that's unseen

Yes, Africa is a land of wars, poverty and corruption. The situation in places like Darfur, Sudan, desperately cries out for more media attention and international action. But Africa is also a land of stock markets, high rises, Internet cafes and a growing middle class. This is the part of Africa that functions. And this Africa also needs media attention, if it's to have any chance of fully joining the global economy.


Africa's media image comes at a high cost, even, at the extreme, the cost of lives. Stories about hardship and tragedy aim to tug at our heartstrings, getting us to dig into our pockets or urge government to send more aid. But no country or region ever developed thanks to aid alone. Investment, and the job and wealth creation it generates, is the only road to lasting development. That's how China, India and the Asian Tigers did it.


Yet while Africa, according to the United States government's Overseas Private Investment Corp, offers the highest return in the world on direct foreign investment, it attracts the least. Unless investors see the Africa that's worthy of investment, they won't put their money into it. And that lack of investment translates into job stagnation, continued poverty and limited access to education and health care.


Consider a few facts: The Ghana Stock Exchange regularly tops the list of the world's highest-performing stock markets. Botswana, with its A-plus credit rating, boasts one of the highest per capita government savings rates in the world, topped only by Singapore and a handful of other fiscally prudent nations. Cell phones are making phenomenal profits on the continent. Brand-name companies such as Coca-Cola, GM, Caterpillar and Citibank have invested in Africa for years and are quite bullish on the future.

The New McCarthyism

Here is excerpts from a very important article by Juan Cole in Salon.com today. Academic freedom is under attack in America. Professors at Columbia University are under attack for anti-semitism by right-wing Likud linked Zionist organizations. And the New York Times Editorial Board is supporting them.
There are other examples of growing McCarthyism. Members of Congress are criticizing judges and Democrats for being anti-Christian. The right-wing Republican's drive to control the political future of America knows no bounds, even if they have to undermine our basic Constitutional rights, our economic future, the future of America, and bring starvation back to America's streets. The only possible justification of the rape of America is greed.
Salon.com | The New McCarthyism

A member of the U.S. Congress calls for an assistant professor at a major university to be summarily fired. The right-wing tabloid press runs a series of vicious attacks on him, often misquoting him and perpetuating previous misquotes. Opinion pieces attacking "tenured radicals" and questioning professors' patriotism use him as their centerpiece. All of these attacks are spurred by a propaganda film made by an advocacy group, in which anonymous accusations are made and the professor is not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations.


It is not 1953, the Congress member is not Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and the professor is not being accused of being a communist. No, it is 2005, the Congress member is Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and the professor is being accused of being anti-Israel.


The lesson for academics, and American society as a whole: McCarthyism is unacceptable except when criticism of Israel is involved.

[...]
Almost none of the allegations against Massad (anti-Semitism, mistreatment of students, likening Israel to Nazi Germany) came from students who had taken his courses. In the most serious case, an allegation that Massad angrily told a student, "If you're going to deny the atrocities being committed against Palestinians, then you can get out of my classroom," the charge was corroborated by one other student and one auditor, but three other individuals present said they had no recollection of the episode taking place, and it did not appear in Massad's teaching evaluations.


Columbia president Lee Bollinger appointed an ad hoc faculty grievance committee to look into the accusations. After a lengthy investigation, the committee issued a report. It found Massad not guilty of anti-Semitism or of punishing pro-Israel students with poor grades. (Indeed, it singled him out for unequivocably denouncing anti-Semitism.)

[...]
The Times' invocation of "scholarly rigor" is really a thinly veiled demand that professors follow what it defines as an acceptable, "fair" pedagogical line.


But as soon as the "fairness" of views is made the criterion for retaining a teacher, the door is opened to witch hunts and chaos. No two students will agree on what is a "fair" view of a controversial issue.

[...]
The fact is that you will never get agreement on such matters of opinion, and no university teacher I know seeks such agreement. The point of teaching a course is to expose students to ideas and arguments that are new to them and to help them think critically about controversial issues. Nothing pleases teachers more than to see students craft their own, original arguments, based on solid evidence, that dispute the point of view presented in class lectures. That is why the New York Times editorial is so wrong, and so dangerous. University teaching is not about fairness, and there is no body capable of imposing "fair" views on teachers. It is about provoking students to think analytically and synthetically, and to reason on their own. In the assigned texts, in class discussion, and in lectures, the students are exposed to a wide range of views, whether fair or unfair.


Elected bodies throughout the United States, dominated by the Christian right, are now considering radical programs such as imposing the teaching of "intelligent design" in biology classes, or abolishing academic tenure (the practice of not firing professors for their views). Even Congress has succumbed to the pressure: The House of Representatives passed an outrageous bill, HR 3077, mandating that area studies programs that receive federal money must "foster debate on American foreign policy from diverse perspectives" -- a heavy-handed attempt to mandate pedagogy that supports the American administration in power and supports Israeli policies uncritically.


The New York Times is a bastion of liberalism and Enlightenment values in an increasingly hysterical and intolerant time. But it has lent this burgeoning movement legitimacy by calling for official oversight of views in the classroom. Its editors should stop to consider that any society that censors Joseph Massad's teaching is unlikely to stop there. The next step will be to censor the newspapers as well. "Unfair," "liberal" views such as those apparent in many New York Times articles and editorials may be put under scrutiny by the same sort of people who want a party line installed at Columbia.

Bush Solution to the Price of Gas? Give Tax Breaks to Oil Companies

This country is in a war to try to secure future oil supplies. Current and future oil production will be eclipsed by demand over the next few years as China and India grow their economy. Meanwhile oil companies profits are already at record levels and very little new oil is being pulled out of the ground. The pool of oil in Alaska will have little or no effect on the price of oil.
Our country is one of the few industrialized countries that still is not spending significant money on renewable energy development.
Incredibly, Bush's solution to this growing oil crisis is millions in tax breaks to Big Oil, his "base". Isn't anyone paying attention?
Washington > House Votes to Approve Broad Energy Legislation" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22energy.html?th&emc=th">The New York Times > House Votes to Approve Broad Energy Legislation

Many Democrats and some Republicans said the measure, which provides $8 billion in tax breaks to energy producers and billions of dollars more in direct federal aid, was too friendly to industry and gave short shrift to energy efficiency and renewable fuels.
"Instead of helping the American people save money, the bill is loaded with tax breaks and royalty relief for oil and gas companies," said Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader.

Frist Draws Criticism From National Council of Churches

Frist is showing his colors this weekend. Religious argument is being brought into the process of judicial confirmations. Fortunately, widely respected religious organizations are standing up for separation of church and state.
The entire article tells a disturbing tale about Bible thumping in Washington in arguments over legislation. It gives a very good example of what will be routine discussion in Congress if the Christian Right continues to erode the Constitution.
The entire article (at the links) is a must read.
Washington > Frist Draws Criticism From Some Church Leaders" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/politics/22frist.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th">The New York Times > Frist Draws Criticism From Some Church Leaders

As the Senate battle over judicial confirmations became increasingly entwined with religious themes, officials of several major Protestant denominations on Thursday accused the Senate Republican leader, Bill Frist, of violating the principles of his own Presbyterian church and urged him to drop out of a Sunday telecast that depicts Democrats as "against people of faith."
Dr. Frist's participation has rekindled a debate over the role of religion in public life that may be complicating his efforts to overcome the Democrats' use of the filibuster, a parliamentary tactic used by Congressional minorities, to block President Bush's judicial nominees.
Dr. Frist has threatened to change the Senate rules to eliminate judicial filibusters, and in response Democrats have threatened a virtual shutdown of the Senate. A confrontation had been expected as early as next week, but it now appears that the showdown may be delayed.
Religious groups, including the National Council of Churches and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, plan to conduct a conference call with journalists on Friday to criticize Senator Frist's participation in the telecast. The program is sponsored by Christian conservative organizations that want to build support for Dr. Frist's filibuster proposal.

It's Time to Return to Basic American Values

Heroes seem few and far between these days, especially among our political leaders. FDR was cut of a different cloth. Last week was the anniversary of his death. Bob Herbert's editorial takes FDR's words and places them in the context of today. While I agree with his point of view, I have exerpted FDR's words so that the message is not diluted.
Bob Herbert: Imagine a president who spoke of workers' rights

Last week -- April 12, to be exact -- was the 60th anniversary of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. "I have a terrific headache," he said, before collapsing at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga. He died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage on the 83rd day of his fourth term as president. His hold on the nation was such that most Americans, stunned by the announcement of his death that spring afternoon, reacted as though they had lost a close relative.

[...]
To get a sense of just how radical Roosevelt was (compared with the politics of today), consider the State of the Union address he delivered from the White House on Jan. 11, 1944. He was already in declining health and, suffering from a cold, he gave the speech over the radio in the form of a fireside chat.


After talking about the war, which was still being fought on two fronts, the president offered what should have been recognized immediately for what it was, nothing less than a blueprint for the future of the United States. It was the clearest statement I've ever seen of the kind of nation the United States could have become in the years between the end of World War II and now. Roosevelt referred to his proposals in that speech as "a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race or creed."


Among these rights, he said, are:


"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation.


"The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation.


"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living.


"The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad.


"The right of every family to a decent home.


"The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.


"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment.


"The right to a good education."

[...]
"The test of our progress," said Roosevelt, "is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

Much has been said about the "welfare state" that emerged in the LBJ era. FDR never advocated for handouts to the poor. He offered them a job, protected their rights on the job, and provided a safety net for them if their ability to work failed due to disability or age.
Those are basic American and Christian values. Its time to remember our roots and to return to basic American values.
In the next election, it's time for the American worker to stand up for basic American values:
Freedom of Speech
The Right to Privacy
Freedom of the Press
Religious Freedom and Tolerance
The Right to Due Process*
Affordable Housing and Basic Needs
A Living Wage
Affordable Medical Care
Quality Public Schools
These are not new ideas. And no one is asking for a handout. These basic necessities are what our citizens need to chase the American Dream and make a real contribution to America's future.
Too many of our jobs and dollars are going overseas. Our education system is falling behind the rest of the world. Our children no longer understand our system of government or the history that inspired the world. With deficits looming for our children, there is shrinking hope for them to better their lives. Research and development funds have been cut across the board. America is headed the way of Rome if we don't act now.
* No Imprisonment Without Legal Representation, Formal Charges and a Jury of Peers

Turkey Slams the US, Threatens Iraqi Kurds

If anyone is wondering why Turkey wasn't supportive of the invasion of Iraq, here it is:
Turkish Military Chief Lashes Out at US and Iraqi Kurds

[General Hilmi Ozkok, the chief of general staff] hit out at the United States Wednesday for failing to curb Turkish Kurdish rebels hiding in northern Iraq and warned that Iraqi Kurdish attempts to take control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk could throw the entire region into turmoil.


Ozkok expressed concern over attempts by Iraqi Kurds to seize the ethnically volatile city of Kirkuk, which, he said, with its large oil resources, should belong to all Iraqis and not just one ethnic group. "That is why it is important for Kirkuk to have a special status," Ozkok said. "We have said several times that Kirkuk is a problem area ready to explode ... and that it would affect the entire region if it explodes." Turkey suspects Iraqi Kurds of planning to capitalise on their post-war gains to make Kirkuk the capital of an independent Kurdish state. Such a state, Ankara fears, would fuel separatism among the restive Kurds of adjoining southeastern Turkey, sparking regional turmoil.

Turkey fears a Kurdish homeland on its eastern border where millions of similarly inclined Kurds will likely attempt to secede and join the Iraqi Kurds. Turkey already has troops in northern Iraq keeping an eye on the Kurds and stirring up their Turkoman relatives to defend Kirkuk.
So far, the Bush Administration has turned a blind eye towards Turkey and can only remember when the Turks refused to allow the Army 4th Mechanized Division to cross through Turkey into Iraq.
Turkey has been remarkably patient with the Bush Administration adventures. They do not want to turn their back on NATO. But they will if civil war becomes a risk. They see civil war as inevitable if the Kurds control Kirkuk. They have drawn a line in the sand. But no one seems to be noticing. Even the people of Turkey are showing signs of turning away from Israel.

Iranians Volunteer for Attacks on US Troops and Israel

It would appear Iran is not too worried about the Bush Adminstration saber rattling. They are emboldened by the US political incompetence and are furthering their Shiite revolution of the Middle East.
Militants: Iranians Volunteer for Attacks

Militants: Iranians Volunteer for Attacks
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
(04-20) 16:48 PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --


More than 400 young men and women have volunteered to carry out suicide bombing attacks against Americans in Iraq and targets in Israel, a militant group said Wednesday. The recruiting effort was detailed during a ceremony organized by the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement, a shadowy group that has been seeking attackers for nearly a year.


The Iranian government has distanced itself from the organization. But the event was attended by Mahdi Rahimian, the head of the Martyr's Foundation and the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, both quasi-government organizations run by hard-liners loyal to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "Some 440 volunteers, most of them women, signed up today," said group spokesman Mohammad Ali Samadi. Samadi, said members have already carried out suicide attacks inside Israel against Israeli military targets. But his group is not among those that have claimed responsibility for any previous attacks there. Iran's hard-line rulers have long called for the destruction of Israel. Iranians are barred from traveling to Israel and Samadi suggested that his suicide bombers secretly infiltrate the Jewish state.

Bush's Abused Economy Having Fits At The Prospect of Inflation

While it's not surprising to see inflation surge with higher gas prices, the stock market is dropping, showing signs of a lack of faith in the Administration's fiscal management. One might also speculate that interest rates were held artificially low for too long hoping to stimulate the economy and ensure Bush's re-election. As Steve Roach has pointed out repeatedly, the imbalence in the global economy is bound to have serious consequences if not addressed soon. I'm sure Bush would want to time the downturn after the 2008 election. But how long can we live on borrowed time without facing serious inflation or worse, deflation?
Business > Fears of Rising Inflation Send Shares to New Lows for '05" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/21/business/21econ.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th">The New York Times > Business > Fears of Rising Inflation Send Shares to New Lows for '05

Fears of rising inflation sent stocks to new lows for the year yesterday after the government reported a sharp increase in consumer prices that all but guaranteed that the Federal Reserve would continue to push interest rates higher even as the economy may be slowing. Last week investors were worried about the effect of slower economic growth on corporate earnings. The addition of inflation fears to the mix could put nerves on Wall Street even more on edge.


A 0.6 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index last month was the largest in five months, the government reported. The 0.4 percent jump in the core rate, which excludes food and energy, was twice the forecast from analysts and the biggest monthly increase in nearly four years.
While some economists predicted that inflation should moderate in coming months, higher energy costs have pushed consumer prices steadily higher so that they have been running at an annual rate of 3 percent or more for several months.

[...]
Indications of a slight weakening in the economy - auto sales off, retail sales slowing, wages still losing ground to inflation, job growth below par - have many forecasters marking down their expectations for economic growth to an annual rate of 3 percent to 3.5 percent in the second quarter from 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter.

The Rape of Nanjing Drives China's Protests

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

At one level, I can understand the anger of the Chinese. Japan did horrible things to the Chinese in WWII. They raped and pillaged for 14 years. Now Japan, which has always soft petalled its imperial history, further softened their history books for the next generation of children. I don't understand why a country would want to change its history unless it wanted to manipulate the people. I suspect Japanese leaders want to rebuild its military in response to China's saber rattling. This is indeed a wise course. But since WWII, the people of Japan have been largely pacifistic.
But I fail to understand why any country would manipulate its people when it can educate quite forcefully from the bully pulpit. I have the same issue with the Bush Administration.
Nanjing Massacre

The Chinese call it a war crime. The Japanese describe it as an 'incident' in their new history books. David McNeill reports from Tokyo on how the Nanjing massacre still haunts an uneasy relationship.
[...]
Japanese troops poured into the wartime capital city of Nanjing on 13 December 1937, after suffering heavy casualties in Shanghai. They then began a six-week orgy of medieval raping, killing and looting, carrying out what the United Human Rights Council called "the single worst atrocity during the World War Two era in either the European or Pacific theatres of war".

An American eyewitness, Minnie Vautrin, who kept a diary, wrote on 16 December 1937: "There probably is no crime that has not been committed in this city today." Witnesses said soldiers practised with bayonets on tied-up prisoners, burnt others alive and set dogs on children. Pregnant women were raped and bayoneted, decapitated heads were put on spikes or waved around like trophies, hundreds of unarmed civilians were mown down with machine guns and dumped in rivers and open graves.

Tillman Durdin, the New York Times reporter who called the rape of Nanjing "one of the great atrocities of modern times", described a car journey to the city's river front. "The car just had to drive over these dead bodies. And the scene on the river front, as I waited for the launch ... was of a group of smoking, chattering Japanese officers overseeing the massacring of a battalion of Chinese captured troops."
[...]
The best-known account, by the Chinese-American author Iris Chang, who committed suicide earlier this year and who said she "felt rage" and suffered nightmares during her research, claims more than 300,000 Chinese died and at least 20,000 women were raped. Her 1997 book, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, was the target of a vitriolic campaign by neo-nationalists in Japan who said it was full of lies and exaggerations.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Lu Chuan's City of Life and Death (china.blogs.time.com)
• Nanjing massacre (news.bbc.co.uk)

Homeland Security Targets Only Left-wing Organizations and Jihadis

ABC News: Silence Recalls Oklahoma City Victims

Children who lost their parents in the Oklahoma City bombing recited the names of the dead, and mourners gently laid bouquets on empty chairs symbolizing each victim Tuesday as they observed the 10th anniversary of the nation's worst act of domestic terrorism.

Timothy McVeigh, a rightwing terrorist, was convicted of killing 168 people maiming and injuring more than 500 more, confessed and was executed for the bombing.
Eric Rudolph pleads guilty to a series of Atlanta bombings including two women's clinics, a lesbian bar and Centenial Olympic Park. The attacks, which occurred between 1996 and 1998, killed two people and maimed and wounded more than 110 people.
Meanwhile Homeland Security is making a list of terrist threats based on ideology, rather than fact. Their list amazingly includes only left wing domestic political groups, some committed to peaceful civil disobedience, and jihadis. There are no right wing groups on the list!
Some argue that the rightwing terrorists have fragmented since the OKC bombing, not wanting to be associated with McVeigh. “A lot of people said, ‘I’m fighting against the Zionist Occupied Government, I’m not here to kill children,” Ellis explained. However, others point out many on the list present a risk at best theoretical, rather than real. And if the right wing is concerned about Zionists, this administration is closer to the Israeli government than any in history.
CQ.com

Domestic terror experts were surprised the department did not include right-wing groups on their list of adversaries. “They are still a threat, and they will continue to be a threat,” said Mike German, a 16-year undercover agent for the FBI who spent most of his career infiltrating radical right-wing groups. “If for some reason the government no longer considers them a threat, I think they will regret that,” said German, who left the FBI last year. “Hopefully it’s an oversight.”


James O. Ellis III, a senior terror researcher for the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), said in a telephone interview Friday that whereas left-wing groups, which have been more active recently, have focused mainly on the destruction of property, right-wing groups have a much deadlier and more violent record and should be on the list. “The nature of the history of terrorism is that you will see acts in the name of [right-wing] causes in the future.”

[...]
As a final item, the list notes the threat of eco-terrorists, who “will continue to focus their attacks on property damage in an effort to change policy.” The document notes that although “publicly Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) promote nonviolence toward human life . . . some members may escalate their attacks.”


The document lists several groups or sources of radical violence that DHS does not consider threats to the homeland. Lebanese Hizballah and various Palestinian groups, including Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad, are unlikely to attack the United States, the report’s authors conclude. Several high-profile terror prosecutions, including cases against the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation and Florida professor Sami al-Arian, rest on their connection to such groups.


“Why are we expending so many resources targeting people who have allegedly provided support to groups that don’t threaten us?” asked David Cole, a professor of law at Georgetown University and a frequent critic of the U.S. government’s war on terror. “How does that make us safer?”

Clearly, the Bush Administration has decided that Jihadis and left-wing nonviolent groups such as ALF are their ideological enemies. Be damned pragmatic priorities regarding safety! This is a crusade!

American Social Darwinism

PhpWiki - American Social Darwinism: Cruelty in the Name of Natural Law

A 19th century British philosopher Herbert Spencer introduced the idea of "survival of the fittest" capitalism, a phrase that Charles Darwin appropriated to explain evolution. Spencer believed that it was the duty of the economically strong to drive the economically weak into extinction. Conservative economist George Gilder declared that the poor need the "lash of their poverty" to keep them working. And, as American progressive economist Lester Thurow thinks, "that drive was in fact the secret of capitalism's strength."


Since the late 1800s, in conjunction with the accumulation of enormous personal wealth by the "robber barons" of the time, Social Darwinism has been propagated as a secular religion in America. The phrase "survival of the fittest" entered the popular culture and was used to justify cruelty in the name of "natural law." Russell Conwell, a minister and best-selling author, for example, preached Social Darwinism with messages such as: "To sympathize with a man whom God has punished for his sins...is to do wrong, no doubt about it,...let us remember there is not a poor person in the United States who was not made poor by his own shortcomings."


A growing amount of this reborn Social Darwinist propaganda openly acknowledges that entire sections of American society should be written off. To do otherwise would be in contradiction to nature. If they cannot or will not compete, they are undeserving of either assistance or the same civil rights as those who play by the rules. "If you are not prepared to shoulder personal responsibility," proclaims Newt Gingrich, "then you are not prepared to participate in American civilization." That's it.


American ideology is rife with grave contradictions when it comes to religion, Darwinism, and economics. Most of those hard-core Americans who identify themselves with the "Christian Right" refuse to accept biological Darwinism. They rail against biological Darwinism and try to banish it schools. They absolutely reject the idea that humans could have evolved from the same ancestors as monkeys through natural selection. They say this leaves no room for God. But at the same time, on the other hand, they have fully embraced the crudest form of social Darwinism.


As historian Robert S. McElvaine said:

Yet many,it is probably safe to say, most, of the people in the Christian Right are staunch advocates of social and economic Darwinism. One wonders how, if they condemn both "Godless Darwinism" and "Godless Communism," can they so readily embrace what is in fact a "Godless Marketplace"? We all know that the United States of America claims to be the world's "greatest country of equal opportunity," a "resplendent tribune of democracy" where anyone with enough spunk can rise to the top. Many people left their native countries and emigrated to America motivated by the hope of improving their lives. But in reality there has never been enough opportunity for everyone to improve his or her life in America. In fact, creating opportunity for some here always meant denying it to a very much larger number of others.

It's always puzzled me why the Christian Right would embrace a very anti-Christian ideology. It's as if they have forgotten their history and integrated secular market place ideology into Evangelical Christianity. The essense of the extremist "personal responsibility" ideology leaves no room for the concept of disability. The assumption seems to be as above, the poor are sinners, that's why they are poor.
I am a supporter of an ideology based on personal responsibility, but there are many people who are limited to the kind of responsibility for which they they can be accountable. Only a believer in divine retribution on earth would blame a disabled person for their disability. Is that the kind of thinking the Christian Right is regressing to?
The most chilling part of this is that the true Social Darwinists within the Republican Party are exploiting the concept of divine retribution to further a very anti-Christian ideology. A rather whacky comment my Pope Paul post drew says Bush is the Anti-Christ. This might be a compelling argument for some.

American Dream

Here are some very powerful words from Hank Roth's NaBlog. There are some incredible links in this post also.

From 1979 through 2002 the income of the richest 1% in the United States TRIPLED, while the income of the rest of us stagnated and went down.
UN Human Development Report:

It is morally reprehensible that while the rich 1% in the United States got richer, not just the rest of America but the rest of the world suffers: 1.2 billion people in the world are barely able to live on their LESS than $1.00 a day and as many as ONE HALF are living on $2.00 a day or less.

Alan Maass in "The Case for Socialism" writes:

"The truth is that the American Dream existed only for the handful of people at the top who've become fantatically rich at our expense. For everyone else, the American Dream is dead."


"Meanwhile, the total wealth of the three richest families in the world is equal to the combined economic output of the world's forty-eight least developed countries."

"Nuclear Option" Risks Our Way of Life

Thanks to <a title="MoveOn PAC" href="http://www.moveonpac.org/lte/lte_t.html?t=1&zip=55316MoveOn PAC, I just sent a quick letter to the editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. You can send it to the newspaper of your choice, too. Lets stop the nuclear option!

"Nuclear Option" Risks Our Way of Life


The AP article of 4/17/05 on the Republican plan to use the "nuclear option" will not only limit the influence of the minority party, but even more importantly it will enable Republicans to appoint judges who will roll back decades of progress in protecting worker rights, the environment, and privacy.


One of the first judges appointed will be Janice Rodgers Brown of California, nominated for the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals, a common stepping stone to the Supreme Court. Judge Brown follows an extremist judicial philosophy that calls for the courts to block Congress from guaranteeing such things as the 40 hour work week, the minimum wage, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act.


We need an independent judiciary for proper checks and balences, not one driven by an extremist ideology.

Steps at Reactor in North Korea Worry the U.S.

Washington > Steps at Reactor in North Korea Worry the U.S." href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/politics/18nuke.html?th&emc=th">The New York Times > Steps at Reactor in North Korea Worry the U.S.

The suspected shutdown of a reactor at North Korea's main nuclear weapons complex has raised concern at the White House that the country could be preparing to make good on its recent threat to harvest a new load of nuclear fuel, potentially increasing the size of its nuclear arsenal. While there is no way to know with any certainty why the reactor might have been shut down, it has been North Korea's main means of obtaining plutonium for weapons. The Central Intelligence Agency has told Congress it estimates that in the last two years the country turned a stockpile of spent fuel from the same reactor into enough bomb-grade material for more than six nuclear weapons. The White House's concern over the past week arises from two developments. An American scholar with unusual access to North Korea's leaders, Selig S. Harrison, a longtime specialist on North Korea at the Center for International Policy in Washington, said after visiting the country two weeks ago that he was told by a very senior North Korean that there were plans "to unload the reactor to create a situation" to force President Bush to negotiate on terms more favorable to North Korea.

Is the Administration finally getting it? North Korea is a threat? China has no inclination to coerce cooperation out of North Korea?Where has this Administration been?
China basically controls the flow of food and most anything else to North Korea. If China wanted to get anything from them, all they'd have to do is close the border and blockade their ports. China isn't so inclined. China is very interested in the distracting value of North Korean moves. And, should tensions grow into a war, China would have two cards to play, North Korea and their angry population volunteering to go to war against Japan, and China's interest in Taiwan.
I suspect China would play the Japan card first to occupy Japan and US, then move against Taiwan while their opponents are tied down in defence of Japan. While this is unlikely in the immediate future because China is a long way from a two theater war. Give it a decade and that will change. North Korea with their finger on the trigger makes for a major distraction indeed. China intends to dominate Asia Pacific, that is clear.

Bush Administration Exporting Illegal Corn

US sent banned corn to Europe for four years

All imports of United States corn have been stopped at British ports following the discovery that the US has been illegally exporting a banned GM maize to Europe for the past four years. The unprecedented move, which has angered the Bush administration, follows efforts to hush up and play down the scandal on both sides of the Atlantic. For weeks the official food watchdog failed to look for imports of the maize, which is banned on health grounds. It has been forced to take action by the European Commission. The two main opposition parties yesterday blamed the delay on a pro-GM and pro-US bias in the Food Standards Agency, and pledged to correct it if they came to power.


The scandal - the worst yet involving GM imports - centres around maize named Bt 11, modified to repel a pest called the corn borer. It also contains a gene conferring resistance to antibiotics. All such crops are banned in Europe because of fears that the resistance could spread to consumers via the food chain. Syngenta, the biotech company that developed the maize, told the US government last December that the crop had been grown over 37,000 acres of the country since 2001, because it had been confused with a similar, approved, maize. It was fined $375,000 (#200,000) for the blunder.


But the Bush administration failed for three months to inform European customers that they were importing a banned maize. The scandal was admitted only after it was exposed by the scientific magazine Nature, on 22 March. Even then the US failed to mention that the maize contained the gene for antibiotic resistance.

Imagine that, the Bush Administration is angered that they've been caught in an illegal act that has put at risk the health of Britain.
Has anyone noticed how poorly anti-biotics work in the US. I have to wonder who else has been eating that corn since 2001. Any bets?

Airport Security No Better Since 9/11

Airport screening no better since 9/11, official says

Two upcoming government reports will say the quality of screening at airports is no better now than before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a House member who has been briefed on the contents. The Government Accountability Office -- the investigative arm of Congress -- and the Homeland Security Department's inspector general are expected to soon release their findings on the performance of Transportation Security Administration screeners. ''A lot of people will be shocked at the billions of dollars we've spent and the results they're going to see, which confirm previous examinations of the Soviet-style screening system we've put in place,'' Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said Friday.

Homeland Security has just been another handout to big corporations. Billions spend with very little to show for it. The only thing this administration has been effective with is redistributing wealth away from the poor and middle class into the deep pockets of the super rich.

One of The Horrors of War

A US Reservist tells his story

Aiden Delgado, an Army Reservist in the 320th Military Police Company, served in Iraq from April 1st , 2003 through April 1st, 2004. After spending six months in Nasiriyah in Southern Iraq, he spent six months helping to run the now-infamous Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad.

Delgado says he observed mutilation of the dead, trophy photos of dead Iraqis, mass roundups of innocent noncombatants, positioning of prisoners in the line of fire - all violations of the Geneva conventions. His own buddies - decent, Christian men, as he describes them - shot unarmed prisoners.

In one government class for seniors, Delgado presented graphic images, his own photos of a soldier playing with a skull, the charred remains of children, kids riddled with bullets, a soldier from his unit scooping out the brains of a prisoner.

When I interviewed Delgado recently, he expressed his deep love of his country, but he also insisted that racism - a major impetus to violence in American history - is driving the occupation, infecting the entire military operation in Iraq.

The author of this article misses the point. War contains all that is most horrible about humanity. People are expected to do things beyond their sense of values, beyond what is reasonable or prudent.

"Their's is not to reason why, their's is but to do or die."
The Charge Of The Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1809-1892

Humans have to integrate into their personal logic the things they must do. When asked to do heinous things, they will sometimes create diabolical explanatory fictions to justify their behavior. Those that don't will most often suffer from a serious form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Without a rationalization of why such actions are necessary, a soldier's conscience eats him from the inside out, fills him with shame, self-condemnations, and vivid memories and re-experiencing of the traumatizing events.
A racist point of view is just one of those explanatory fictions humans use to justify unacceptable behavior. Once self-justified, some will demonstrate their commitment to the new rationale by committing atrocities consistent with their new ideology. Sometimes soldiers bring to war this ideology, but many simply go along with their unit as they are trained.
John Kerry spoke the truth on April 22, 1971, when he gave testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

I would like to talk, representing all those veterans, and say that several months ago in Detroit, we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged and many very highly decorated veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia, not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command....They told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war, and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

Some of those explanatory fictions include explaining away the atrocities as actions of a "few" or "lies". Some just want the story to stay silent because they don't want anyone to know what horrible things they had participated in their battle experiences.
Policy makers and professional military leaders don't want the truth known because the people might make it a whole lot harder to conduct another war. The truth that it is all real and more common than anyone wants to admit is more horrible to live with than the rationalizations created to protect the soldiers victimized by the experience and those who benefit from the spoils of war.
And so Abu Ghraib, Fallujah, Mi Lai in Vietnam and countless other examples of atrocities have happened over and over throughout history. The problem isn't the morality of the kids conducting the war, in general, it's the morality of war. With war comes atrocity, it's only human. If a society accepts war, then they must accept that some of their soldiers will return from that war with the blood of innocents on their hands, and a memory of actions that they will carry with them for their entire lives. And some will come home capable of monstrous behavior.
Read the entire interview at the link:

Condi Cancels Annual Terrorism Report

Condi is up to her secrecy again. When a report has bad news, you stop making it public. Of course, the internal justification is that the report is inaccurate, so they're dumping it. Never mind Bush is losing the war on terror, that CAN'T be true.
Bush administration eliminating 19-year-old international terrorism report

The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.


Several U.S. officials defended the abrupt decision, saying the methodology the National Counterterrorism Center used to generate statistics for the report may have been faulty, such as the inclusion of incidents that may not have been terrorism.


Last year, the number of incidents in 2003 was undercounted, forcing a revision of the report, "Patterns of Global Terrorism."


But other current and former officials charged that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's office ordered "Patterns of Global Terrorism" eliminated several weeks ago because the 2004 statistics raised disturbing questions about the Bush's administration's frequent claims of progress in the war against terrorism.


"Instead of dealing with the facts and dealing with them in an intelligent fashion, they try to hide their facts from the American public," charged Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and State Department terrorism expert who first disclosed the decision to eliminate the report in The Counterterrorism Blog, an online journal.

Bush is Selling F-16s to Pakistan and India

A Deal for Jet Fighters Opens the Door to India" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/16/business/worldbusiness/16plane.html?pagewanted=1">The New York Times > A Deal for Jet Fighters Opens the Door to India

Two dozen new F-16's will be made available to Pakistan as a reward for that country's aid in the war on terror and will strengthen a fleet of about 40 F-16's acquired before Congress halted sales in 1990 to protest Pakistan's nuclear ambitions.


But the decision to open up the Indian market means that contractors now have the chance to sell up to 126 fighter jets - with price tags starting at $35 million each - to a country with an aging military fleet of 800 jets, none of them made in America.

[...]
Some critics denounced the Bush administration's move as contributing to a South Asian arms race. But from the government's perspective, weapons sales to Pakistan and India strengthen the American presence on the Chinese border and open new markets throughout Asia for military contractors, which are looking more to foreign buyers as the Pentagon budget comes under pressure.

On the face of it, Bush has finally done something I would tend to agree with. It looks like a win win on all sides with the exception of China. Short of India becoming the aggressor in a war against Pakistan, the US gains two well equipped allies on China's southern border. China's recent behavior tells me they have expansionary ambitions. They are already acting as if they are a superpower and are showing signs they are capable of even greater arrogance than the US. Hard to believe, I know.

US Economy Reels From Mismanagement

Steve Roach: Tough Love

There seems to be no end in sight to the widening of America’s gaping external imbalance. A record $61 billion trade deficit for February is only the latest in a long string of warning signs for an unbalanced US and global economy. The rebalancing required to temper these deficits requires significant adjustments in macro policies. Yet with America’s fiscal and monetary authorities basically frozen at the switch, politicians are asserting greater control over the adjustment process — firing one protectionist salvo after another. The tradeoff between policy adjustments and political actions lies at the heart of the sustainability debate for ever-mounting global imbalances. A tipping point could be close at hand.

[...]
And if there is anyone in the US guilty of living beyond his or her means, the American consumer certainly gets the prize. Since 1996, average growth in real consumption (3.9%) has exceeded gains in real disposable personal income (3.4%) by 0.5% per year. Over that period, the income-short consumer has been converted into an asset-dependent spending machine — first drawing sustenance from the equity bubble and more recently from the property bubble. As a result, the income-based personal saving rate has plunged toward zero and households have taken on record debt loads as they extract newfound purchasing power from increasingly over-valued homes. As a result, personal consumption has gone to excess — moving up to 71% of GDP in 2002–04 versus a 25-year norm of 67% over the 1975 to 2000 period. Little wonder that the import content of that consumption has also gone to excess.

[...]
...the only way America will ever come to grips with its massive foreign trade deficit would be to bite the bullet and accept the pain of significantly higher real interest rates. Try telling that to the Fed or Asian central banks. It is simply unprecedented for the world’s leading economic power to be running chronic trade deficits that have now turned America into the largest foreign debtor in history.

When the correction comes to the US, there will be hell to pay. Already Friday, Wall Street had it's worst day in two years. Doublethink Dubya's advisors say:

The U.S. economy is on track for solid growth this year despite the "headwinds" it faces from lofty oil prices, two senior White House economic advisers said Thursday.