(I began writing this piece before the flap over Stanley McChrystal hit the media.)
Something is terribly wrong with the American occupation of Afghanistan.
It’s not working. The Afghans are unwilling partners in the game we are playing with their country.
The world’s lone superpower appears lost and confused as it blindly chases shadows across one of the most backward countries on the planet.
Longest “war” in U.S. history.
Let that fact sink in.
Longer than the Civil War. Longer than WWII. Longer than Vietnam.
President Obama claims the U.S. will withdraw some of its combat forces in mid-2011, but in reality the U.S. has no intention of fully withdrawing from Afghanistan – not after pouring billions of dollars and at least a thousand American lives into the country. Bases and outposts are being built for a long stay by U.S. forces and private contractors, and it’s time – years past time – for American voters and taxpayers to ask why.
Why are we in Afghanistan almost nine years later? Who are we fighting? What is our primary strategic objective, and is that objective realistic? Are we in Afghanistan so that a long sought after oil pipeline can be built and then secured through the western part of the country? Are we simply after Afghanistan’s plentiful mineral reserves?
But perhaps the most important question is the one least asked by the American news media and American politicians: how many Afghans have been killed or wounded since we invaded in 2001? What’s the body count?
And let’s go further and ask another basic question: what is the will of the Afghan people? Do they want American and NATO soldiers in their country?
Time stands against us in Afghanistan, as does history. The language spoken today by the American military and political establishment is eerily familiar to that spoken during the Vietnam War. Our military firepower is unmatched, but the conflict in Afghanistan, like Vietnam, can’t be won by firepower alone.
Stanley “Poor Judgment” McChrystal is gone and David “The Miracle Worker” Petraeus is taking command, but something remains terribly wrong in Afghanistan, not to mention in Washington D.C., and Albany, NY and Sacramento, CA and Detroit, MI and Phoenix, AZ.
Call it the superpower malaise. The case might be terminal.
Iraq. Afghanistan. The BP oil hemorrhage. An economy that won’t recover for any except the wealthy. Stubbornly high unemployment. State budgets in disarray. People suffering. The national political system paralyzed, polarized, bought and paid for with campaign bribes.
I have the sense that the world’s lone superpower is like the proverbial Potemkin village – a façade, an elaborate charade – all polished surfaces perched on a rickety foundation very near total collapse. The confidence and élan we once carried as our American birthright has been replaced with apprehension and fear – fear of Muslims and Mexicans, fear of decline, fear of change, fear of the future, fear of taxes, fear of death, fear of life, fear of the dark, and, most of all, fear of the truth about our situation.
In the years following 9/11, Hunter S. Thompson referred to the U.S. as the Kingdom of Fear, but the sort of fear I’m talking about here penetrates even deeper.
We are now a nation living on borrowed time and paying the bills with borrowed money. Our politicians and their corporate masters hum the same hackneyed tunes while the shining city on the hill burns.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
The Lost Highway
Strong-Arm – a & v, Physically powerful; (of a criminal) using violence; a thug; a bouncer. Oxford American Dictionary
The reporter for ABC’s Good Morning America program asserted that the Obama Administration has strong-armed BP into speeding up the claims process for those affected by the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Interesting choice of words.
When it comes to oil, it’s generally not the government that engages in strong-arming – it’s the oil companies, their lobbyists and legal firms – that shake down the government and taxpayers for direct subsidies, tax breaks, sweetheart deals to drill and extract on “public” land, royalty relief, and on and on and on.
But these are the days of the Tea Party movement – if one can call it that – and the corporate media is influenced by the stirring, though nonsensical, sayings of Sarah Palin, and images of angry white folk who want to take our country back – and the language of the movement advances the notion that the government is evil, profligate, intrusive and hell bent on strangling the free enterprise system. In that context, of course the Obama Administration is strong-arming poor BP and its hapless CEO, Tony Hayward, who simply and sincerely (at least he appears sincere on those TV spots) wants to make things right for all the people who live and work along the Gulf.
Well, sure, except for one minor problem: oil company CEO’s like Tony Hayward are paid huge money to do one thing -- find oil and extract it. End of story. Hayward and members of his tribe are not paid to protect the environment or even give a rat’s ass about it; when something goes wrong, CEO’s are expected to minimize the damage in any manner possible, shift the blame to others and fend off calls for increased regulatory oversight. The eventual legal outcome of the Exxon Valdez spill is a classic case in containing, deferring and reducing the financial exposure produced by a major oil spill.
BP has an abysmal safety record and evidence has recently surfaced that the company ignores safety concerns in order to lower costs and increase profits. That’s hardly a surprise. When profit is all, safety will always be a secondary concern.
The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is on record as saying the Obama Administration should have had contingency plans in place for a major oil spill. Perhaps. I’m no fan of Obama when it comes to energy policy – he’s far too timid, prone to siding with Big Oil by continuing his predecessor’s industry-friendly protocols, and fond of spouting absurdities about “clean coal” and nuclear power – but I wonder if Pawlenty was in hibernation during the Bush-Cheney regime. In case there is any doubt here, two terms of Bush-Cheney were a boon to Big Oil -- an absolute run of the table, keys-to-the-kingdom, party-all-the-time, raid-the-cookie-jar, oil industry love orgy.
How was the Obama Administration supposed to unravel a decade of incestuous relationships between oil company lobbyists and regulators – not to mention all the Congress critters of both parties who are addicted to Big Oil campaign contributions -- in less than half a term? How many Republicans might have supported legislation calling for improved safety systems on deep-water oil drilling rigs or increased regulatory oversight of the drilling permit process?
Drill, baby, drill.
This isn’t to acquit the Obama Administration of blame; there’s more than enough to go around. Big Oil is guilty, our government is guilty, our campaign finance system is guilty, and so are we, the American people, for our stubborn insistence that we have the right to burn all the gasoline we can afford to buy. We love our cars, our suburbs, and the freedom offered by the open road, even as that false freedom imprisons us.
The reporter for ABC’s Good Morning America program asserted that the Obama Administration has strong-armed BP into speeding up the claims process for those affected by the ongoing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Interesting choice of words.
When it comes to oil, it’s generally not the government that engages in strong-arming – it’s the oil companies, their lobbyists and legal firms – that shake down the government and taxpayers for direct subsidies, tax breaks, sweetheart deals to drill and extract on “public” land, royalty relief, and on and on and on.
But these are the days of the Tea Party movement – if one can call it that – and the corporate media is influenced by the stirring, though nonsensical, sayings of Sarah Palin, and images of angry white folk who want to take our country back – and the language of the movement advances the notion that the government is evil, profligate, intrusive and hell bent on strangling the free enterprise system. In that context, of course the Obama Administration is strong-arming poor BP and its hapless CEO, Tony Hayward, who simply and sincerely (at least he appears sincere on those TV spots) wants to make things right for all the people who live and work along the Gulf.
Well, sure, except for one minor problem: oil company CEO’s like Tony Hayward are paid huge money to do one thing -- find oil and extract it. End of story. Hayward and members of his tribe are not paid to protect the environment or even give a rat’s ass about it; when something goes wrong, CEO’s are expected to minimize the damage in any manner possible, shift the blame to others and fend off calls for increased regulatory oversight. The eventual legal outcome of the Exxon Valdez spill is a classic case in containing, deferring and reducing the financial exposure produced by a major oil spill.
BP has an abysmal safety record and evidence has recently surfaced that the company ignores safety concerns in order to lower costs and increase profits. That’s hardly a surprise. When profit is all, safety will always be a secondary concern.
The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is on record as saying the Obama Administration should have had contingency plans in place for a major oil spill. Perhaps. I’m no fan of Obama when it comes to energy policy – he’s far too timid, prone to siding with Big Oil by continuing his predecessor’s industry-friendly protocols, and fond of spouting absurdities about “clean coal” and nuclear power – but I wonder if Pawlenty was in hibernation during the Bush-Cheney regime. In case there is any doubt here, two terms of Bush-Cheney were a boon to Big Oil -- an absolute run of the table, keys-to-the-kingdom, party-all-the-time, raid-the-cookie-jar, oil industry love orgy.
How was the Obama Administration supposed to unravel a decade of incestuous relationships between oil company lobbyists and regulators – not to mention all the Congress critters of both parties who are addicted to Big Oil campaign contributions -- in less than half a term? How many Republicans might have supported legislation calling for improved safety systems on deep-water oil drilling rigs or increased regulatory oversight of the drilling permit process?
Drill, baby, drill.
This isn’t to acquit the Obama Administration of blame; there’s more than enough to go around. Big Oil is guilty, our government is guilty, our campaign finance system is guilty, and so are we, the American people, for our stubborn insistence that we have the right to burn all the gasoline we can afford to buy. We love our cars, our suburbs, and the freedom offered by the open road, even as that false freedom imprisons us.
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Ye Shall Know Them by Their Sacrifice
George W. Bush led and misled the nation into two wars and charged the costs – enormous costs – on the national Visa card. Barack Obama took office and continued the practice, racking up more millions in debt for future generations to deal with. The wars continue. After nearly seven years, Iraq has settled into a mire of internecine and sectarian conflict that could flare up at any time, but at least the death rate for American soldiers has declined.
We should celebrate that fact, right?
We don’t tally the Iraqi dead or dislocated. It’s their country but they don’t matter enough to count how many have died or fled since Dick and Junior unleashed the hounds of war.
Afghanistan is another story. We stormed in full of retributive rage, kicked Taliban ass, relaxed and congratulated ourselves while the Taliban regrouped; when it became clear the Taliban wasn’t going to fold, we found ourselves in a fight in a very inhospitable land. Obama has doubled down, sending in more troops, investing more money, changing tactics…
But the costs of the war are still out of sight and mind, off the radar of most Americans because no sacrifice is required of us; we are not asked to change our lifestyles to support the war effort, we are only asked to salute the “brave men and women who stand in harm’s way” on Memorial Day and the 9/11 Anniversary. No draft to frighten the wits out of suburban kids and make them think – really think – about the realities of war, about what constitutes a real threat to the nation’s security, and about what justifies sending American men and women to distant lands to fight and die.
No general sacrifice. No war tax to pay the costs. Business as usual with the wars as minor inconvenience, a remote event to check in on every now and then. No images of dead Americans on the tube every night. No protests on college campuses. No riots. No sit-ins or teach-ins.
Same tale in the energy sphere. As oil bleeds from the Gulf of Mexico I remember Jimmy Carter in his sweater, in the late 70’s, solemnly telling Americans that we had to change our profligate ways and learn to conserve natural resources. Thermostat down, sweater on; smaller, more fuel efficient cars; mass transit systems; regulations on polluting industries. To show how serious he was about energy conservation, Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof. Carter was right but perhaps too far ahead of his time, too honest with an electorate rattled by the Arab oil embargo and a dragging economy to accept that even America, the chosen nation, had to face limits.
When Reagan had the solar panels removed politicians everywhere took note of the political lesson: don’t dare ask Americans to sacrifice – those JFK ask-what-you-can-do-for-your-country days are over. Promise the people small government and low taxes, cheap gasoline, easy credit, and, above all, preach non-stop the inherent beauty of the free market. Happy days are here again and will stay forever as long as Big Business is allowed to operate unfettered by Big Government.
Reagan had the lines and the delivery, the actor’s ability to make us believe in an impossible dream. One of the worst things we did was to allow the oil companies to consolidate and become bigger and more powerful than ever, with economic and political clout unseen since the days of the Standard Oil trust. Unfortunately, we do not have a Teddy Roosevelt in our midst to restore order.
We want cheap, plentiful gasoline and a clean environment, but the two are incompatible. Oil extraction is messy, dangerous and damaging to the environment no matter how much commercial time ExxonMobil or BP or Chevron buy to convince us otherwise. We can burn oil or have a semi-livable planet, but not both.
No sacrifice at the national level, no sacrifice on the local either. We demand good schools, smooth roads, fire and police protection, clean air and water, parks and open spaces, but we don’t want to pay the price for these things. We fall victim to talking points and mantras spoken by charlatans and posers: taxes are evil, government can do nothing right, privatize everything, leave the wealthy alone and the poor to fend for themselves.
The point of no return went by in a blur.
We are the United States of No Sacrifice.
We should celebrate that fact, right?
We don’t tally the Iraqi dead or dislocated. It’s their country but they don’t matter enough to count how many have died or fled since Dick and Junior unleashed the hounds of war.
Afghanistan is another story. We stormed in full of retributive rage, kicked Taliban ass, relaxed and congratulated ourselves while the Taliban regrouped; when it became clear the Taliban wasn’t going to fold, we found ourselves in a fight in a very inhospitable land. Obama has doubled down, sending in more troops, investing more money, changing tactics…
But the costs of the war are still out of sight and mind, off the radar of most Americans because no sacrifice is required of us; we are not asked to change our lifestyles to support the war effort, we are only asked to salute the “brave men and women who stand in harm’s way” on Memorial Day and the 9/11 Anniversary. No draft to frighten the wits out of suburban kids and make them think – really think – about the realities of war, about what constitutes a real threat to the nation’s security, and about what justifies sending American men and women to distant lands to fight and die.
No general sacrifice. No war tax to pay the costs. Business as usual with the wars as minor inconvenience, a remote event to check in on every now and then. No images of dead Americans on the tube every night. No protests on college campuses. No riots. No sit-ins or teach-ins.
Same tale in the energy sphere. As oil bleeds from the Gulf of Mexico I remember Jimmy Carter in his sweater, in the late 70’s, solemnly telling Americans that we had to change our profligate ways and learn to conserve natural resources. Thermostat down, sweater on; smaller, more fuel efficient cars; mass transit systems; regulations on polluting industries. To show how serious he was about energy conservation, Carter had solar panels installed on the White House roof. Carter was right but perhaps too far ahead of his time, too honest with an electorate rattled by the Arab oil embargo and a dragging economy to accept that even America, the chosen nation, had to face limits.
When Reagan had the solar panels removed politicians everywhere took note of the political lesson: don’t dare ask Americans to sacrifice – those JFK ask-what-you-can-do-for-your-country days are over. Promise the people small government and low taxes, cheap gasoline, easy credit, and, above all, preach non-stop the inherent beauty of the free market. Happy days are here again and will stay forever as long as Big Business is allowed to operate unfettered by Big Government.
Reagan had the lines and the delivery, the actor’s ability to make us believe in an impossible dream. One of the worst things we did was to allow the oil companies to consolidate and become bigger and more powerful than ever, with economic and political clout unseen since the days of the Standard Oil trust. Unfortunately, we do not have a Teddy Roosevelt in our midst to restore order.
We want cheap, plentiful gasoline and a clean environment, but the two are incompatible. Oil extraction is messy, dangerous and damaging to the environment no matter how much commercial time ExxonMobil or BP or Chevron buy to convince us otherwise. We can burn oil or have a semi-livable planet, but not both.
No sacrifice at the national level, no sacrifice on the local either. We demand good schools, smooth roads, fire and police protection, clean air and water, parks and open spaces, but we don’t want to pay the price for these things. We fall victim to talking points and mantras spoken by charlatans and posers: taxes are evil, government can do nothing right, privatize everything, leave the wealthy alone and the poor to fend for themselves.
The point of no return went by in a blur.
We are the United States of No Sacrifice.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Unholy Blockade
Leave it to the Israeli government to open a locked door with an American made sledgehammer rather than a key. I wonder if Israel’s rulers have finally done something so heinous that the world will not allow it to fade away.
While most of the world condemns Israel, the US is doing its usual contortions, mumbling when it should speak loudly and clearly, calling for an “investigation” that might take months or years to conclude, and come to nothing.
Israel is spinning the story of its assault on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for besieged Gaza, downplaying the death of at least ten and perhaps more people, and acting as if Israel was only retaliating against a direct attack by some of the world’s most notorious and heavily armed terrorists.
Among those in the flotilla were a member of the Israeli parliament, an ex-US Ambassador and a clergyman. Tough bunch, hardened in battle. Sure.
For Israel it’s the same tired and outrageous story of disproportionate response. Eighteen months ago Israel launched a blistering three-weeks-long attack on the Gaza Strip, purportedly in response for Hamas rocket attacks, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians and wreaking total havoc on a defenseless population. Liken it to shooting fish in a barrel. Cluster bombs, white phosphorous, Hellfire missiles, artillery – some of the deadliest hardware available, a good deal of it supplied by the US government – were employed to punish Gazans for supporting Hamas.
Never mind that Hamas won election in Gaza in 2006, fair and square. The Bush-Cheney junta found the outcome unacceptable and refused to recognize the new and legitimate government -- because, you see -- the US only supports democracy when it produces a result the US approves of. Hamas was not supposed to win the election, and even today the CIA makes no mention of the election, instead insisting that Hamas seized power by force.
But back to the flotilla and Israel’s latest outrage: 700 passengers of conscience, young and old, men and women, representing forty nations, determined to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza, knowingly sailing into the teeth of the Israeli blockade, and probably not surprised when gunboats and helicopters appeared, hell bent on stopping the flotilla right there in international waters. Not that Israel gives a damn about international law: no nation on earth flouts international law more frequently than Israel, except perhaps North Korea.
Not that I’m linking Israel to a charter member of the Axis of Evil. No, I support Israel’s right to defend itself as much as I condemn Israel for its brutal, inhuman treatment of the Palestinians. The problem seems to be that Israel can no longer discern a mild threat from a grave one. As Noam Chomsky recently wrote -- after being denied entry into the West Bank city of Ramallah by the Israeli government -- “It (Israel) has become far more paranoid, defensive, irrational and ultranationalist.”
Yes, starving a population of 1.5 million people is irrational, as is attacking a flotilla of vessels carrying aid to those people. Definitely irrational, possibly illegal, certainly inhuman, but Israel acts as defiant as ever, secure under the protection of the American umbrella and armed to the teeth with American military hardware.
Imagine if the tables were turned and ten Israeli civilians were murdered while on a humanitarian mission; I doubt the United States would sit idly by, parsing words.
While most of the world condemns Israel, the US is doing its usual contortions, mumbling when it should speak loudly and clearly, calling for an “investigation” that might take months or years to conclude, and come to nothing.
Israel is spinning the story of its assault on a humanitarian aid flotilla bound for besieged Gaza, downplaying the death of at least ten and perhaps more people, and acting as if Israel was only retaliating against a direct attack by some of the world’s most notorious and heavily armed terrorists.
Among those in the flotilla were a member of the Israeli parliament, an ex-US Ambassador and a clergyman. Tough bunch, hardened in battle. Sure.
For Israel it’s the same tired and outrageous story of disproportionate response. Eighteen months ago Israel launched a blistering three-weeks-long attack on the Gaza Strip, purportedly in response for Hamas rocket attacks, killing more than 1,000 Palestinians and wreaking total havoc on a defenseless population. Liken it to shooting fish in a barrel. Cluster bombs, white phosphorous, Hellfire missiles, artillery – some of the deadliest hardware available, a good deal of it supplied by the US government – were employed to punish Gazans for supporting Hamas.
Never mind that Hamas won election in Gaza in 2006, fair and square. The Bush-Cheney junta found the outcome unacceptable and refused to recognize the new and legitimate government -- because, you see -- the US only supports democracy when it produces a result the US approves of. Hamas was not supposed to win the election, and even today the CIA makes no mention of the election, instead insisting that Hamas seized power by force.
But back to the flotilla and Israel’s latest outrage: 700 passengers of conscience, young and old, men and women, representing forty nations, determined to deliver desperately needed aid to Gaza, knowingly sailing into the teeth of the Israeli blockade, and probably not surprised when gunboats and helicopters appeared, hell bent on stopping the flotilla right there in international waters. Not that Israel gives a damn about international law: no nation on earth flouts international law more frequently than Israel, except perhaps North Korea.
Not that I’m linking Israel to a charter member of the Axis of Evil. No, I support Israel’s right to defend itself as much as I condemn Israel for its brutal, inhuman treatment of the Palestinians. The problem seems to be that Israel can no longer discern a mild threat from a grave one. As Noam Chomsky recently wrote -- after being denied entry into the West Bank city of Ramallah by the Israeli government -- “It (Israel) has become far more paranoid, defensive, irrational and ultranationalist.”
Yes, starving a population of 1.5 million people is irrational, as is attacking a flotilla of vessels carrying aid to those people. Definitely irrational, possibly illegal, certainly inhuman, but Israel acts as defiant as ever, secure under the protection of the American umbrella and armed to the teeth with American military hardware.
Imagine if the tables were turned and ten Israeli civilians were murdered while on a humanitarian mission; I doubt the United States would sit idly by, parsing words.
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