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Monday, February 20, 2006 |
Francis Fukuyama: "By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for jihadist terrorists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.
The so-called Bush Doctrine that set the framework for the administration's first term is now in shambles. The doctrine (elaborated, among other places, in the 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States) argued that, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, America would have to launch periodic preventive wars to defend itself against rogue states and terrorists with weapons of mass destruction; that it would do this alone, if necessary; and that it would work to democratize the greater Middle East as a long-term solution to the terrorist problem. But successful pre-emption depends on the ability to predict the future accurately and on good intelligence, which was not forthcoming, while America's perceived unilateralism has isolated it as never before. It is not surprising that in its second term, the administration has been distancing itself from these policies and is in the process of rewriting the National Security Strategy document.
The administration's second-term efforts to push for greater Middle Eastern democracy, introduced with the soaring rhetoric of Bush's second Inaugural Address, have borne very problematic fruits. The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood made a strong showing in Egypt's parliamentary elections in November and December. While the holding of elections in Iraq this past December was an achievement in itself, the vote led to the ascendance of a Shiite bloc with close ties to Iran (following on the election of the conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president of Iran in June). But the clincher was the decisive Hamas victory in the Palestinian election last month, which brought to power a movement overtly dedicated to the destruction of Israel.
The problem with neoconservatism's agenda lies not in its ends, which are as American as apple pie, but rather in the overmilitarized means by which it has sought to accomplish them.
Now that the neoconservative moment appears to have passed, the United States needs to reconceptualize its foreign policy in several fundamental ways. In the first instance, we need to demilitarize what we have been calling the global war on terrorism and shift to other types of policy instruments."
Of course Francis Fukuyama is a neoconservative ideologue himself, who believes in the benevolent nature of the American Empire. He is wrong in this. America's neocons have no vision for a democratic society, no interest in the common welfare; they have no place for justice and liberty and their freedom is reserved for the market tycoons who amass wealth by privatization and deregulation. The accumulation of wealth is in private hands, not destined for the common weal. Money has replaced the people as the guiding principle.
Fukuyama sees the debacle of neocon capitalism and the ruins it is creating and is trying to save the system. The system is showing its ugly face. He must realize the Bush administration is a blind and mad juggernaut. Capitalism has reached its full maturation, the system is rotten to the core. As people do not enter the neocon equation, their ideology has lost all legitimacy.
12:16:13 PM 
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Yahoo: "The crisis over Iran's atomic agenda is deepening, but the world's nuclear watchdog chief has warned there may be no choice but to accept limited uranium enrichment by Tehran, diplomats say."
11:47:52 AM
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BlackMesaIndigenousSupport: "Something critical is about to happen concerning the traditional communities on Big Mountain surrounding areas on Black Mesa. Today, more than 30 years after the passage of Public Law 93 - 531, the original Navajo-Hopi Relocation bill, a new bill is before congress that sets a new timetable for the forced relocation of a number of Navajo families on Black Mesa. Senate bill S1003 'The Navajo Hopi Land Settlement Act Amendments of 2005' is now on the senate calendar and may be passed at anytime without debate or serious consideration unless the public acts now. It's difficult to convey the serious nature of these new developments. The passage of this bill would effectively devastate a culture such as the Navajo, or Dineh, stripping them of their identity and way of life which is tied into the land itself.
This bill will permanently displace the indigenous families of Big Mountain and surrounding communities on Black Mesa from their ancestral lands and will relieve the federal government of any further responsibility for the relocated people. S 1003, sponsored by Senator John McCain (R-AZ), comes as Peabody Coal, the world's largest coal company, is planning to expand its strip mining of American Indian lands, drawing down a high-quality residential aquifer in the process. Only one thing stands in Peabody's way: indigenous people live on the land below which lies billions of tons of low-sulfur coal. As with their ancestors, the land is the basis for the Black Mesa people's traditions, spirituality, and livelihoods."
11:39:53 AM
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Observer: "Americans have always believed that hard work will bring rewards, but vast numbers now cannot meet their bills even with two or three jobs. More than one in 10 citizens live below the poverty line, and the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening.
A shocking 37 million Americans live in poverty. That is 12.7 per cent of the population - the highest percentage in the developed world.
Under President George W Bush an extra 5.4 million have slipped below the poverty line. Yet they are not a story of the unemployed or the destitute. Most have jobs. Many have two. But the economy, stripped of worker benefits like healthcare, is having trouble providing good wages."
11:24:55 AM
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TimesOnline: "The American military have been operating flights across Europe using a call sign assigned to a civilian airline that they have no legal right to use.
But for several years and as recently as last December it has been used selectively by both the American air force and army to cover the flights of aircraft to and from the Balkans.
These range from Learjet 35 executive jets to C-130 transport planes and MC-130P Combat Shadows, which are specially adapted for clandestine missions in politically sensitive or hostile territory.
In a report exposing arms trafficking to war-torn central Africa, Amnesty International has suggested that 'US security authorities were engaged in a covert operation to ferry arms to Rwanda in the face of political opposition from the European Union'."
11:19:40 AM
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Craig Murray: "Citing the 'Prevention of Terrorism' act, British Police have arrested and interrogated three of the stars of the award-winning film The Road to Guantanamo, together with the three ex-Guantanomo detainees on whose story the film is based.
Last week the three ex-detainees travelled to the Berlin Festival with the Winterbottom party, and were arrested on Friday under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as the party were returning. They were held by Special Branch and questioned for several hours about where they had been and who they had met. They were also questioned on Michael Winterbottom's politics.
Even more worrying, the three actors who portrayed them in the film were also arrested and questioned. The actors have no particular political or religious affiliation and were also arrested apparently purely on the basis that they were Asian. None of the white members of the group were arrested.
Following legal intervention by Gareth Peirce, the group were eventually released. Special Branch claimed they had not been arrested, merely detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act."
12:35:40 AM
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