Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, is off the the Mid East to once again defend the indefensible.
She will be joined by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Together they will try to convince the world that a huge 63 billion dollar arms deal over ten years will help to bring stability and peace to the region and to quote Ms. Rice “bring about the type of Mid East that the United States wants”.
No kidding folks. The master diplomat Rice actually said that on her way to her Mid East meetings.
Rice is saying once again that it is Iran that is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the region. This constant beating of the war drums by the US administration has all of the characteristics of the pre Iraq invasion song and dance.
I guess that since we are pumping all of these arms into the Mid East we need a “clear and present” danger bogyman to prove how necessary our arms sales truly are.
The United States continues to be the world’s biggest arms dealer. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US, the UK, China, Russia, and France, continue to lead the world by far in arms sales. Over half of the countries in the world spend more on arms each year then they do for health care.
With the prospects for huge profits on sales of this manitude the prospect for any kind of lasting peace in the Middle East or the world appear to be dim. War is big business. It seems that when you get down to the nitty gritty what’s good for the US economy and for the economies of the security council members is more war.
There just isn’t any end in sight for the mismanaged war in Iraq. Poor planning from the start has doomed the adventure as defined by the President.
Former high ranking United States government officials and military officers finally break their silence over the mismanagement of the war in Iraq. The result is a damning indictment of president George W. Bush and the small group of misinformed and plain old ignorant men close to the President who planned for the Iraq war and occupation to follow.
As I’ve posted about before my own belief is that President Bush stills feels that he is fulfilling an important objective for America by pursuing the establishment of an American Fortress in Iraq.
Whatever his objectives may be the mismanagement of the occupation by the incompetent Bush administration is inexcusable. The American Empire has been made to look like a lumbering old fool which has only emboldened our enemies.
During the Second World War the foundation was laid for an American Empire that would soon replace the British Empire. After the war America eventually advanced to the position of being the most powerful and influential county on earth.
Part of that preparation, which was not fully appreciated at the time, was in the race to develop the atomic bomb in an effort to bring about a swift end to the war with Japan. Some of the greatest achievements of mankind in physics and engineering took place as a result of the Manhattan Project.
This top secret project built the largest building on earth at Oakridge, Tennessee. The facilities inside that building were engineered to process weapons grade Uranium, the vital component for atomic bombs.
Once the bomb was detonated over Hiroshimo, Japan on August 6, 1945 our world would never be the same. American leadership realized the enormous power possession of the bomb would bring to America although that new found power was to be soon challenged by the Russians.
With the defeat of Nazi Germany and of Japan the United States made some farsighted decisions that were to lay a solid foundation for the emerging American Empire. Although there were war crime commissions established after World War Two and high ranking military and government Japanese and Germans leaders were brought to trial and punished, generally the United States took a pragmatic yet enlightened approach in rebuilding the two devastated nations.
In Japan, General Douglas MacArthur was installed as the Supreme Commander. General MacArthur was an old Asian hand and understood Japanese culture and the role of the Emperor. Rather than bring the Emperor to trial for his role in the war, MacArthur used the Emperor’s influence to advantage in the reconstruction effort.
To reach the top in politics in any nation requires teamwork. A smart, hard working, understanding, caring partner is vital for political success.
While the top dogs political partners may not get all of the credit that they deserve you can bet that they have been loyal helpmates behind the scenes. Very likely important affairs of state are often shaped by the mates.
Here is a nice video of a few top dog politicians and their partners. I expect that even the politicians would admit that they would probably not have reached the top without them.
Finally the Democratic Presidential debates provided the voting public with more than just a few carefully prepositioned ready to insert sound bits.
Barack Obama once again shows how quickly and passionately that he can address questions about important issues without sounding like he is reading a script.
Obama made a strong showing in last nights debate. The following video clip shows Obama at his best.
Of course, not even Obama is able to tell the whole truth about the US involvement in Iraq. Nor is Senator Hillary Clinton. When talking about withdrawing American troops from Iraq next year both talk about withdrawing combat troops. Troops assigned to combat brigades make up only about 50% of the troops deployed to Iraq.
There is still the matter of defending the huge American Embassy which should be open in Baghdad. The construction process has been so wrapped in secrecy no one seems to know if it has already opened or not.
Then someone will have to defend and operate the four permanent bases in Iraq that are already operating. No, Senators Obama and Clinton can not fully speak the truth. American troops will likely still be in Iraq long after all of us old enough to vote have passed from the living on this complicated earth of ours.
As you know all good politicians know how to use small differences in meaning of words to advantage so that they can defend their statements at a later date. One can not reasonably think that Obama and Clinton  are not knowledgeable about US intentions in Iraq.Â
It’s just that they join George W. Bush and the foreign policy establishment in not trusting the American people’s capacity to accept the truth. Which is that America has been positioning troops around the world for the past 60 years in an effort to control as much of the world as possible and to unilaterally advance American interests.
