I'm writing this in response to the Senate's vote to stop buying the F-22-which has been used in neither Iraq or Afghanistan, has become obsolete and is even dangerous as pilots can become trapped in it. To me, this is the first blow to the Military Industrial Complex in a very long time.
In Eisenhower's fair-well address, he warned of the Military Industrial Complex. It basically refers to the very close and shady dealings of the Military, the Contractors, and the Politicians.
Eugene Jarecki's Documentary entitled "Why We Fight"(Named after the Frank-Capra WWII propoganda movies) does a much better job at going into detail than I could but what happens is this:
Corporations compete with each other to sell their product to our government. They also flood our Congressional districts with money and jobs so that if the military no longer uses said product, people lose those jobs and money (B2 Bomber has a piece made in every state). Representatives are terrified of losing these contracts b/c it may cost them thousands of votes. Many government officials have either previously headed these companies or do so after office-a notable example is Cheney and Halliburton/KBR. He was Sec. of Defense, Afterward he ran the company(making quadruple what he did in public service), and then after becoming VP he (in my opinion) saw to it that we went to war and made sure Halliburton got the contracts.
It's all a money-making business and what I personally find the most scary is that these contractors who are basically making our foreign policy have Zero Accountability to the voters.
Check out this website: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm Please note that our military expenditures was $623 billion. The next closest was China with 65.0 billion . What is even more jaw-dropping is the total world expenditures(minus US) at $500 billion. Why the hell do we feel the need to spend more on our military than the entire rest of the world put together??
Basically I just want people to be aware and not glorify our militaristic nature. We do Not go into countries to bring freedom and democracy-we go in to loot, plunder, and protect our interestes as the global hegemon. Capitalism is defeating Democracy in this country and only an informed and vigilant citizenry can keep these two in balance. This last election was Huge in the amount of people who got involved and informed-we cannot let that zeal for the democratic process to once again be replaced with ignorance and apathy.
Other News: I finished Reza Aslan's book "How To Win A Cosmic War." I have to say hands-down that it was the best book i've read in years (quite the statement). It was extremely informative, engaging, and insightful. I would def highly recommend it.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
AFPAK is a bunch of BS
Ok, so Obama has been talking nonstop about this AfPak campaign. (***Thus begins my refering to these countries by their names throughout. To keep it simple, I wont switch between country, capitol, and leaders.***)
Being the pessimist that I am, I think we should abandon it while we still can -lest we pump even more money than the 8.7 billion we've already given Pakistan ...not to mention the troop increases to Afghanistan.(http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20090303.aspx)
The whole idea of AfPak is ridiculous in even it's wording. These countries are hardly BFFs. Afghanistan was not happy at the creation of Pakistan and was very vocally against their admission into the U.N. Due to the fact that Pakistan was(and still is) afraid of war with India, they've been kissing Afghani heiney and were actually a huge help with fighting the Soviets.
Problem is that Afghanistan has been really warming up to India-> If you know anything about the independence of India, the subsequent creation of Pakistan, and the ongoing land disputes between India and Pakistan, you can understand that Pakistan is having a "F* My Life" moment as of recently.
Afghanistan and India never really had any problems with each other and since India has a much better economy to speak of, they've been giving Afghanistan a ton of $$$ in aid. They even offered to help train the Afghan National Army. Of course, a very green and uneasy Pakistan sought to block all goods trying to make their way from India to Afghanistan and this trade route is still a point of contention.
My main point is that Pakistan really doesn't want to help Afghanistan at all. Pakistan supports the Taliban and does not allow coallition troops to chase them over the border into Pakistan. Perhaps Pakistan even wants Afghanistan to be a messy unstable country. If Afghanistan is unstable, Pakistan does not have to worry about being in the awkward position of being smushed between two strong buddies. My fear is that we are putting too much faith-and money-into this campaign. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are known for their government corruption and drug trade...good guys huh??
Recently there has been talk of senior Taliban leaders wanting to meet with US officials to start "talks." It is my opinion that though this could be a good thing, we should be very cautious. The Taliban can def. be worked with, but they need to reject Al-Qaeda(who cannot be negotiated with in my opinion) and agree to voice their opinions(right, wrong, or indifferent) through legal means. Their views of women are very bothersome to me, but even their opinions should be heard in the legislature while disallowing their violent and repressive actions against women and others.
Being the pessimist that I am, I think we should abandon it while we still can -lest we pump even more money than the 8.7 billion we've already given Pakistan ...not to mention the troop increases to Afghanistan.(http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/india/articles/20090303.aspx)
The whole idea of AfPak is ridiculous in even it's wording. These countries are hardly BFFs. Afghanistan was not happy at the creation of Pakistan and was very vocally against their admission into the U.N. Due to the fact that Pakistan was(and still is) afraid of war with India, they've been kissing Afghani heiney and were actually a huge help with fighting the Soviets.
Problem is that Afghanistan has been really warming up to India-> If you know anything about the independence of India, the subsequent creation of Pakistan, and the ongoing land disputes between India and Pakistan, you can understand that Pakistan is having a "F* My Life" moment as of recently.
Afghanistan and India never really had any problems with each other and since India has a much better economy to speak of, they've been giving Afghanistan a ton of $$$ in aid. They even offered to help train the Afghan National Army. Of course, a very green and uneasy Pakistan sought to block all goods trying to make their way from India to Afghanistan and this trade route is still a point of contention.
My main point is that Pakistan really doesn't want to help Afghanistan at all. Pakistan supports the Taliban and does not allow coallition troops to chase them over the border into Pakistan. Perhaps Pakistan even wants Afghanistan to be a messy unstable country. If Afghanistan is unstable, Pakistan does not have to worry about being in the awkward position of being smushed between two strong buddies. My fear is that we are putting too much faith-and money-into this campaign. Both Pakistan and Afghanistan are known for their government corruption and drug trade...good guys huh??
Recently there has been talk of senior Taliban leaders wanting to meet with US officials to start "talks." It is my opinion that though this could be a good thing, we should be very cautious. The Taliban can def. be worked with, but they need to reject Al-Qaeda(who cannot be negotiated with in my opinion) and agree to voice their opinions(right, wrong, or indifferent) through legal means. Their views of women are very bothersome to me, but even their opinions should be heard in the legislature while disallowing their violent and repressive actions against women and others.
Friday, July 3, 2009
I may have a conflict(blood) diamond??
Quick background if you have not seen the movie "Blood Diamond" (which I highly recommend):
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an international governmental certification scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds that fund conflict. Launched in '03, it requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from blood diamonds(also endorced by the UN). The idea is for members to only trade among themselves in an effort to keep conflict diamonds out of the market.
The problemo though is that the diamond industry is not policing itself effectively and governments don't bother to hold them accountable for this. The illicit diamond trade is still flourishing as diamonds are a high value product that are very easily smuggled across borders. In Sierra Leone, experts assess the illicit trade to be about 20%. Not to mention that illicit trade has been shown to fund terrorism and aid money-laundering activities. In Guinea diamond production has increased 500% in recent years...which is quite interresting as Guinea doesn't really have any diamond mines?? Obviously they're being smuggled in from Sierra Leone or Liberia...or the DRC even.
The military in Zimbabwe, under the control of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), killed more than 200 people in a violent takeover of the diamond fields in late 2008. (According to a recent Human Rights Watch report->http://www.hrw.org/node/83960)
What about the US?? A recent United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that blood diamonds may be entering the US because of major weaknesses in the implementation of the Clean Diamond Trade Act. This is sadly ironic that as we buy these conflict diamonds, the funds are going directly to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda->( Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah wrote a good book on this: "Blood From Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror").
Sadly, being the chronic-realist that I am, I really don't see anything being done about this as where there is $$ to be made, greed and corruption are close behind. I guess just be aware and appreciate your "rock(s)" a little more as it may have cost people their lives.
***To end on a more positive note, check out this article:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25718236-25837,00.html
-apparently they've never been to, or heard stories from the US/Mexican border haha.
The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme is an international governmental certification scheme that was set up to prevent the trade in diamonds that fund conflict. Launched in '03, it requires governments to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from blood diamonds(also endorced by the UN). The idea is for members to only trade among themselves in an effort to keep conflict diamonds out of the market.
The problemo though is that the diamond industry is not policing itself effectively and governments don't bother to hold them accountable for this. The illicit diamond trade is still flourishing as diamonds are a high value product that are very easily smuggled across borders. In Sierra Leone, experts assess the illicit trade to be about 20%. Not to mention that illicit trade has been shown to fund terrorism and aid money-laundering activities. In Guinea diamond production has increased 500% in recent years...which is quite interresting as Guinea doesn't really have any diamond mines?? Obviously they're being smuggled in from Sierra Leone or Liberia...or the DRC even.
The military in Zimbabwe, under the control of Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), killed more than 200 people in a violent takeover of the diamond fields in late 2008. (According to a recent Human Rights Watch report->http://www.hrw.org/node/83960)
What about the US?? A recent United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that blood diamonds may be entering the US because of major weaknesses in the implementation of the Clean Diamond Trade Act. This is sadly ironic that as we buy these conflict diamonds, the funds are going directly to terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda->( Washington Post journalist Douglas Farah wrote a good book on this: "Blood From Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror").
Sadly, being the chronic-realist that I am, I really don't see anything being done about this as where there is $$ to be made, greed and corruption are close behind. I guess just be aware and appreciate your "rock(s)" a little more as it may have cost people their lives.
***To end on a more positive note, check out this article:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25718236-25837,00.html
-apparently they've never been to, or heard stories from the US/Mexican border haha.
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