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Monday, October 2, 2006 |
Ahram: "Paul Kennedy, the renowned historian and author of the classic study of international history, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, has long warned America of the dangers of what he dubbed 'imperial overstretch'. Since publication in 1988, Kennedy's thesis that imperial powers tend to involve themselves in adventures that sap their energies and resources has provoked immense debate within the US. Neo-conservatives and other cheerleaders of American empire labelled the 61-year-old British scholar a doomsayer, but the current direction of the war in Iraq seems apt illustration of his point.
US Army generals would definitely say that America is overstretched. We are overstretched in two dimensions: military overextension across the globe, especially in Iraq, and financial overstretch because of budget and trade deficits.
Some people say we [Americans] know how to run democracy and we have solved the greatest constitutional and political problems. All others need to do is imitate us! Thus we have a policy of spreading democracy throughout the world. I don't agree with that and my friend Henry Kissinger dislikes it also. He dislikes the neo-conservative crusaders who promote spreading democracy from Saudi Arabia to China. Kissinger sees it does not work. What you want is peace, stability and a chance to give individuals and families opportunity to grow."
Actually, Bush is preventing the Middle Eastern and other countries from becoming really democratic. Anyone knows that nations that prosper slowly but surely develop towards more freedom and liberty. Bush is actively promoting the fundamentalist factions in those countries. And he is showing that America does not care at all about prosperity, freedom and democracy. His agenda is loaded with greed and lust for power. He's a maniac who will go on until only Laura and Barney are his sole supporters.
Bush now has to pay private firms for his propaganda because the media no longer believe his 'bushit'.
WashingtonPost: "As violence continues in Iraq, the military is looking for ways to achieve stability through opinion polls and public relations.
The Multi-National Command in Baghdad wants to hire a private firm to conduct polling and focus groups in Iraq 'to assess the effectiveness of operations as they relate to gaining and maintaining popular support', according to a notice the Department of the Army posted yesterday.
The Baghdad command also confirmed yesterday that it has awarded a two-year, $12.4 million contact to handle strategic communications management to the Lincoln Group, the Washington-based public relations company found late last year to have been paying money to place favorable articles in the Iraqi news media.
Lincoln's practices have attracted controversy, most recently because of a report in the current issue of Harper's Magazine. In it, Willem Marx, an Oxford University student, describes working for Lincoln in Baghdad last summer and using a spreadsheet listing amounts charged by Iraqi newspapers to run articles written by Army personnel, at costs that ran from $50 to $1,500."
12:05:46 PM 
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