LinkTV reports on the growing violence at the border on March 5, 2009.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Afghanistan: Certain Failure
A strike over the weekend in Kundunz province in rural Afghanistanan an unmanned U.S. drone killed five men. While the U.S. military insists those killed were terror suspects, the Afghan government claims that they were all civilians.
Thus, the War in Afghanistan extends into its eighth year. President Obama announced earlier in February a deployment of an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Since last summer, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of U.S. drone attacks on Afghan civilians in rural areas. According to news reports, over 2,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan alone in 2008, the highest year toll in recent years.
Meanwhile, according to RawStory, U.S. ambassador Richard Holbrooke has declared the efforts in the War on Drugs to Afghanistan is a complete failure. At the European Summit Conference in Brussels, Holbrooke stated, "It is the most wasteful and ineffective programme I have seen in 40 years in and out of the government," The opium poppy remains an important cash crop for Afghanistan. Harvests have reached record highs in recent years under the government coalition led by U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.
RawStory also reports that in 2008 the United States began "aerial fumagation" which spreads the chemical Roundup Ultra over poppy fields grown for heroin production. While these efforts may have decreased some production last year, its enaction is without power to control drug production.
Holbrooke aims to give Afghan farmers new incentives with an economic package designed to improve agriculture in the rugged tribal region. In pegging his attempt to persuade European monetary aid for U.S. military and political efforts in Afghanistan, Holbrooke has put the face of a lovable clown on the disfigured face of poverty, war and continuous military occupation.
Thus, the War in Afghanistan extends into its eighth year. President Obama announced earlier in February a deployment of an additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan. Since last summer, there has been a rapid increase in the amount of U.S. drone attacks on Afghan civilians in rural areas. According to news reports, over 2,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan alone in 2008, the highest year toll in recent years.
Meanwhile, according to RawStory, U.S. ambassador Richard Holbrooke has declared the efforts in the War on Drugs to Afghanistan is a complete failure. At the European Summit Conference in Brussels, Holbrooke stated, "It is the most wasteful and ineffective programme I have seen in 40 years in and out of the government," The opium poppy remains an important cash crop for Afghanistan. Harvests have reached record highs in recent years under the government coalition led by U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai.
RawStory also reports that in 2008 the United States began "aerial fumagation" which spreads the chemical Roundup Ultra over poppy fields grown for heroin production. While these efforts may have decreased some production last year, its enaction is without power to control drug production.
Holbrooke aims to give Afghan farmers new incentives with an economic package designed to improve agriculture in the rugged tribal region. In pegging his attempt to persuade European monetary aid for U.S. military and political efforts in Afghanistan, Holbrooke has put the face of a lovable clown on the disfigured face of poverty, war and continuous military occupation.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Police Taser Kills Michigan Boy
Authorities in Bay City, Michigan have confirmed that a fifteen-year old boy died early today as a result of police taser use on him as an attempt to break up a scuffle according to the Star-Tribune. The Bay City Police Department has not released the minor’s name.
While one officer now is on leave, the real culprit of the scandal remains unmasked. According to Amnesty International, nearly 400 people in America have died in similar police taser use stories under a study done from 2000 to 2008.
Maybe judges should begin in cases to consider the implications of taser-use as torture and cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited under the Constitution by the 8th Amendment.
Meanwhile, TASER remains one of the top distributors in the police world, its products used by agencies worldwide.
While one officer now is on leave, the real culprit of the scandal remains unmasked. According to Amnesty International, nearly 400 people in America have died in similar police taser use stories under a study done from 2000 to 2008.
Maybe judges should begin in cases to consider the implications of taser-use as torture and cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited under the Constitution by the 8th Amendment.
Meanwhile, TASER remains one of the top distributors in the police world, its products used by agencies worldwide.
Chavez Blasts Obama
According to Reuters, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lashed out at President Obama of the United States this weekend over what he calls imperial interference in the affairs of sovereign nations.
Chavez spoke in Caracas warning his audience that, “He [Obama] goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality."
The latest spat between the two heads of state is an outgrowth of an ambassador removal President Chavez enacted last summer while incensed by President Bush’s efforts in Venezuela. Chavez also brought home his ambassador to the United States. He says he is now reconsidering sending a new ambassador to Washington to confer with Obama.
Chavez continued, "My, what ignorance; the real obstacle to development in Latin America has been the empire that you today preside over." Chavez has strongly criticized the United States for its imperial ambitions in South America.
Chavez remains highly suspicious of the “change” promised from newly elected President Obama. Earlier this month, he warned “Don’t mess with me, Mr. Obama!” in reference to U.S. efforts citing Venezuela as a backer of terrorism.
President Chavez continues to suggest that the CIA directed a military coup effort that overthrew him in 2002 for twenty four hours.
Chavez spoke in Caracas warning his audience that, “He [Obama] goes and accuses me of exporting terrorism: the least I can say is that he's a poor ignoramus; he should read and study a little to understand reality."
The latest spat between the two heads of state is an outgrowth of an ambassador removal President Chavez enacted last summer while incensed by President Bush’s efforts in Venezuela. Chavez also brought home his ambassador to the United States. He says he is now reconsidering sending a new ambassador to Washington to confer with Obama.
Chavez continued, "My, what ignorance; the real obstacle to development in Latin America has been the empire that you today preside over." Chavez has strongly criticized the United States for its imperial ambitions in South America.
Chavez remains highly suspicious of the “change” promised from newly elected President Obama. Earlier this month, he warned “Don’t mess with me, Mr. Obama!” in reference to U.S. efforts citing Venezuela as a backer of terrorism.
President Chavez continues to suggest that the CIA directed a military coup effort that overthrew him in 2002 for twenty four hours.
Blackwater on Trial
According to RawStory, Blackwater is under fire following a federal lawsuit filed by a widow of a man killed by an employee of the private military contractor. The man, Raheem Khaleef Sa’adoon was 32 when allegedly slain on Christmas Eve in 2006 by Blackwater employee Andrew Moonen, who was noted to be intoxicated at the time.
Blackwater, (now renamed Xe) became infamous worldwide after a convoy opened fire in a busy Baghdad intersection in October 2007 killing 17 civilians, many of them women and children.
The lawsuit also alleges a cover-up scheme took place after the murder in an effort to protect Moonen and the greater Blackwater community.
Blackwater was banned from Iraq by the Iraqi government earlier this year. Their famously lucrative government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan has become a trend that is leading the government to further outsource military jobs to private companies. Blackwater specializes in escorting political dignitaries and even worked security for President Barack Obama’s 2008 visit to Iraq.
Blackwater is headquartered in Moyock, North Carolina.
Blackwater, (now renamed Xe) became infamous worldwide after a convoy opened fire in a busy Baghdad intersection in October 2007 killing 17 civilians, many of them women and children.
The lawsuit also alleges a cover-up scheme took place after the murder in an effort to protect Moonen and the greater Blackwater community.
Blackwater was banned from Iraq by the Iraqi government earlier this year. Their famously lucrative government contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan has become a trend that is leading the government to further outsource military jobs to private companies. Blackwater specializes in escorting political dignitaries and even worked security for President Barack Obama’s 2008 visit to Iraq.
Blackwater is headquartered in Moyock, North Carolina.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Bailout is Hypocrisy
Although the Dow Jones continues to rise this week, news in the larger scene has been wholly disheartening. Amid confirmatioons that AIG used $165 million of the nearly $3 billion of taxpayer money to pay executive bonuses and prolong the pain of the insolvent institution, the financial bailout game is becoming farce. Many Americans are starting to believe that perhaps it would have been best to let the free market put AIG and others out of their misery.
But "bold action" has sought to put the dead man known as corporate mega-ank on a breathing machine indefinitely. It is simple to wonder why things are bad when the very executives and politicians who terrorized the public for cash and ultimately, their livelihood, hold press conferences condemning lavish executive compensation that they knew dominated the fine print.
The White House remains in the grasp of hte corporations and even worse receives its economic and political directives from the privately-owned Federal Reserve Bank and their special interests.
AIG is symbolic in that it was the first private company awarded federal bailout money. It began a processs that later culminated in a $700 billion banker takeover in October, a $350 billion Secretary of State dictation bailout in November and President Obama's recently passed $900 billion "stimulus". The last "rescue package" seeks to continue the same citizen to CEO payment transfer plan that has wrecked most Americans' savings.
It is laughable that the Preesident and Congresspeople are now whining to the American people about a measly $165 million out of a cool $4 trillion already taken by brunt force and manipulation.
It is especially a surprising move noting that they refused to consider such issues when the following bailouts were debated. But, alas they were too busy building a "safer America" via new economy to see beyond the long political memory of three weeks. Thus, average Americans will suffer and the President and Congress will continue to be mere pawns of the super-elite.
But "bold action" has sought to put the dead man known as corporate mega-ank on a breathing machine indefinitely. It is simple to wonder why things are bad when the very executives and politicians who terrorized the public for cash and ultimately, their livelihood, hold press conferences condemning lavish executive compensation that they knew dominated the fine print.
The White House remains in the grasp of hte corporations and even worse receives its economic and political directives from the privately-owned Federal Reserve Bank and their special interests.
AIG is symbolic in that it was the first private company awarded federal bailout money. It began a processs that later culminated in a $700 billion banker takeover in October, a $350 billion Secretary of State dictation bailout in November and President Obama's recently passed $900 billion "stimulus". The last "rescue package" seeks to continue the same citizen to CEO payment transfer plan that has wrecked most Americans' savings.
It is laughable that the Preesident and Congresspeople are now whining to the American people about a measly $165 million out of a cool $4 trillion already taken by brunt force and manipulation.
It is especially a surprising move noting that they refused to consider such issues when the following bailouts were debated. But, alas they were too busy building a "safer America" via new economy to see beyond the long political memory of three weeks. Thus, average Americans will suffer and the President and Congress will continue to be mere pawns of the super-elite.
Obama's Big Plan for Afghanistan
A day after a congressional attache signed and sent a letter to President Obama requesting him to "reconsider military escalation" in Afghanistan, President Obama announced his plans to phase in an Afghan national security force of 400,000 in the next six to seven years. This amount is over three times more than the amount the American government planned for in 2002.
The New York Times reports that the Afghan security force curently stands around 90,000 and that last year President Bush approved $12 billion in funds to nearly double the force. President Obama appears poised to continue America's imperial presence in Afghanistan.
In addition, the Times also mentions that President Obama is near announcing a plan to spend $10 - 20 billion for operations in Afghanistan until 2016. If the United States has troops in Afghanistan until that year, it will go on record as a fifteen-year war, the longest in American history. The War in Afghanistan is now in its eighth year.
The New York Times reports that the Afghan security force curently stands around 90,000 and that last year President Bush approved $12 billion in funds to nearly double the force. President Obama appears poised to continue America's imperial presence in Afghanistan.
In addition, the Times also mentions that President Obama is near announcing a plan to spend $10 - 20 billion for operations in Afghanistan until 2016. If the United States has troops in Afghanistan until that year, it will go on record as a fifteen-year war, the longest in American history. The War in Afghanistan is now in its eighth year.
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