On Leaving Afghanistan

The wailing and moaning about our retreat from Afghanistan shows the victory of images over thought.  After one trillion dollars and twenty years, our work there has come to nothing.  And that nothing describes the level of thought from most reporters, who can only compare pictures of the US withdrawal from Vietnam from their childhoods with what they see now, and declare our troop withdrawal a failure.

On Leaving Afghanistan

National Public Radio drips with stories about the plight of Afghan women and people who like to read who are now ruled by the Taliban.  It’s sympathetic, really.  But if they aren’t willing to fight for their freedom, why should we?  The Afghan military and political leaders raced out of their country within a day.  After twenty years of blood and gold, none of them had enough courage to fight for even themselves, let alone their country.

President Joe Biden deserves credit for making the bold and risky decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.  It was always going to be messy.  He knew that.  Even former President Trump thought the US should leave Afghanistan, and many Americans agreed with him, as did Obama before him.  Biden is successfully wrestling with our military leaders, who are very invested in the US remaining there.  

President Joe Biden successfully managed to do what two previous Presidents wanted to do, but couldn’t.  He is willing to take the criticism and stand by this decision despite the leaks and complaints aired against him.

The American taxpayer funded a corrupt military exercise in a corrupt country run by a Department of Defense that can’t even pass an audit.  No wait, they can’t even do an audit.  No one knows where all the money went.  Not just in Afghanistan, but anywhere in the entire Defense Department.  

Afghanistan is known as the graveyard of empires.  The United States lasted longer than most, achieved the objective of routing the group responsible for the 9-11 terror attack, and is leaving after another, very expensive, lesson.  

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Worry

So it has happened at last. Anti-gay discrimination in the military just got a big setback. And I predict that one year from now no one will be talking about this issue at all. Fortunately, we will have the hours and hours of television footage predicting disaster to laugh at in the coming years. Not that any amount of inaccurate scare-mongering will stop the cultural conservatives from making wild accusations and predictions in the future.

I wonder what will be the next topic to terrify? I've noticed a lot of infants, many more than usual, shaking their rattles at passing adults on the sidewalk. it sounds to me like overt aggressiveness borne out of a disaffection brought on by latent environmentalism in baby food ads. This socialism must be stopped! Take it away, Glen Beck!

No, I Did Not Go To Yale

It's just a sweatshirt! It's not a resume!

Somehow, throughout Washington, DC, I am constantly getting comments on the Yale Bulldogs just because I wear this sweatshirt. It's warm! It cost a dollar! Leave me alone!

Especially in AU Park. People will call across the street to me. Others poke their children and point at me and shout, "Look! There's a Yalie!"

Others just ask me if I went to Yale.

"No, I just buy the sweatshirts at thrift shops."

Today someone asked me about my Yale sweatshirt on the way to my legal temp assignment and actually seemed annoyed that I was wearing the shirt without having gone there.

It's just a sweatshirt. You know, like Yale is just a school. Because it is.

People should be more concerned about something else. Maybe they could ask, instead, "Are you related to George Bush?"

or

"Are you getting foreclosed on?"

or

"Does your father own an oil company?"

or

"Is anyone in your family fighting in the war in Iraq or Afghanistan?"

National Security and the Auto Industry

The United States needs the auto industry because we need the factories in case we need to produce weapons in them.

The United States needs to support the rail system because it is the fastest way to move thousands of troops from one side of the country to the other.

The United States needs to maintain its highways and bridges also to facilitate the movement of troops from one side of the country to the other.

People whose insight includes only profit take a lot for granted.

Bush Uses Words, Not Threats, With Putin

Today Putin and Bush announced that they have a common framework for getting past this nasty missile business in Europe. So all these Russian remarks about Europe becoming a pancake were posturing, which is what you would have to expect. After all, Russia would be destroying themselves in destroying Europe. And I doubt they are prepared for another European war.

Without a doubt, though, Russia has felt very threatened by Eastern Europe's military cooperation with NATO and the U.S. They have made this plain over the last few weeks by their complaining loudly and publicly that Russia is abiding by treaties limiting missiles and no one else is.

But now that President Bush has found the value of talking instead of name calling, he and Putin have established the beginnings of a dialog on military cooperation against common threats. What are these common threats? A nuclear Iran, a Middle East meltdown, and an aggressive China. Those are my guesses. So much for the cold war military contractors were hoping for.

Click on the title to this post for the transcript of Bush's and Putin's public statements.

Training a Torturer

You train a torturer by torturing them. So when the military bosses decided they wanted to toughen up soldiers against rough interrogation techniques, they implemented the SERE program, which put our soldiers through some rough interrogation. Then, most of the limits put in place to prevent torture and abuse were removed.

Add to that the Presidential rhetoric about "the gloves are coming off" and other handy phrases, and what do you have except implicit permission to abuse prisoners? With unaccountable CIA contractors telling soldiers to "soften up" their Iraqi prisoners, what do you think you are going to get? No structure is in place to stop that pressure.

For these and other reasons, this Administration needs to be held accountable for its deliberate lapses in management and policy.

Putin and the Balance of Power

Putin is back in the 20th Century on this one: "We think it would be harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a tinderbox and fill it with new types of armaments," Mr Putin said.

Russia has test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile and claims to have fired it almost entirely across its northern air space to eastern Siberia. That means they could hit Europe if they wanted to.

So if Eastern Europe gets a missile shield, Russia will up the ante with showing off its new missiles. Whee! Haven't we been here before? It's a new arms race.

Remember Kissinger's balance of power politics that got us into Vietnam? That's where Putin's head is at. He is threatening Europe with fire if they install missile defense shields in Eastern Europe. Why would Russia feel threatened by that anyway? It's not as if they are planning on sending missiles into Europe, right? Or do they just want the option?

Putin should instead worry about the other rising powers of the 21st century: Brazil, China, India-Pakistan, Indonesia. He's fighting some kind of self-esteem war over the losses of the Soviet Empire. Get over it, dude. Europe won't be cowed so easily again.

Click on the title to this post for the story in the The Sydney Morning Herald.

David Hicks and the Gag Order

How can the military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, which still operates under the authority of the U.S. Constitution, issue an unconstitutional parole agreement?

The gag order on David Hicks, which is part of his plea agreement for getting out of that hellhole, orders David Hicks not to speak to any media about what he was doing in Afghanistan or his time at Guantanamo Bay. Such a plea agreement would be illegal in the United States, except that it has been issued by the military tribunals set up just for the purpose of justifying illegal detentions.

And the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the cases of the detainees. Their decision will be remembered in the same breath as the Japanese detention case in World War II.

In the linked article, the leading Australian law officer mocked the idea that David Hicks would ever be deported for breaking the gag order, openly sneering at the illegality of it. Too bad our own Supreme Court can't bring itself to do the same thing.

'No Space Race' Claims U.S. State Department

Our U.S. State Department is deeply concerned about television viewing options here in the United States. Alternatively, they are a little worried about the Chinese getting real about the militarization of space.

"Oh, let's not endanger our astronauts or add to pollution and debris orbiting the Earth," Tom Casey of the State Department, in effect, cries. Like that's the problem. "Let's not endanger our way of television viewing." Or, let's pretend that all those millions of NASA dollars were for the sake of science, knowledge and humanity. Not as setting the stage for future military domination.

On the other hand, having just gotten out of the Cold War, maybe our leaders aren't interested in everyone in the States wanting to know about the problems of our space program.

In the U.S. bid for military domination through space technology, we are bumping into other countries intent on doing the same thing. Like China. You know, the people who blew up that satellite the other day?

So maybe space pollution isn't the real issue here.

An Iraq Exit Plan

The U.S. can get out of Iraq. Here 's how: Have a referendum on a Truth and Reconciliation Commission related to Saddam Hussein's era and its aftermath.

The logic is that the Iraqis will have to be willing to keep the peace all on their own. Getting along will mean having to get over the injustices done to them one way or another. And that applies to everyone.

But they won't be willing to. They won't be willing to find a way to get past revenge and on to reconstruction.

And that's when the U.S. can get out of Iraq and save face. When the referendum is voted down.

We can't make the Iraqi government have a referendum. So we can do it online ourselves. It would be a total farce, of course. But relative to other plans, not such a bad idea.

Or the referendum can be shown in another way, such as stopping violence to talk.

There needs to be a way that the Iraqi people can show their commitment to moving forward. And fail. Then we have an out.

Space Race: Military Might in the Sky

China shot one of its own satellites out of the sky the other day. This is important because it implies that China could shoot one of our satellites out of the sky. Not that they said they would do that, far from it. China went out of its way to inform Japan and the United States of its action.

More important is that supremacy of space will determine who the next superpower is.

Controlling space means controlling the skies, communications and transportation. So China has thrown its hat in the ring. That little missile has hit a big target indeed.

Stay tuned. The fallout should be big.