AmericaFirsters-Haters forget the jealousy factor, Tsk (Phil Geraldi)
Mort Zuckerman
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Subject: AmericaFirsters-Haters forget the jealousy factor, Tsk (Phil
Geraldi)
Date: Mar 3, 2009 4:54 AM
Ahem:
"For the world masses, devastated by information they cannot manage or
effectively interpret, life is "nasty, brutish . . . and short-
circuited." The general pace of change is overwhelming, and
information is both the motor and signifier of change. Those humans,
in every country and region, who cannot understand the new world, or
who cannot profit from its uncertainties, or who cannot reconcile
themselves to its dynamics, will become the violent enemies of their
inadequate governments, of their more fortunate neighbors, and
ultimately of the United States. We are entering a new American
century, in which we will become still wealthier, culturally more
lethal, and increasingly powerful. We will excite hatreds without
precedent.
"We live in an age of multiple truths. He who warns of the "clash of
civilizations" is incontestably right; simultaneously, we shall see
higher levels of constructive trafficking between civilizations than
ever before. The future is bright--and it is also very dark. More men
and women will enjoy health and prosperity than ever before, yet more
will live in poverty or tumult, if only because of the ferocity of
demographics. There will be more democracy--that deft liberal form of
imperialism--and greater popular refusal of democracy. One of the
defining bifurcations of the future will be the conflict between
information masters and information victims. ..."
http://www.actionlyme.org/ME_ROCKEFELLER_ME_ELITE.htm
Now cut it out, Phil.
We have to kill megamillions because they're jealous
of how smart and sophisticated we are and because of
how "they" are short-circuited.
It's called gut, or a gut reaction. Americans
have to have gutters because we're the masters
which means we're not the victims who have to
be killed because of short-circuits.
What's wrong with you, buck? Did you get kicked
out of the "intelligence" services because you
failed GutterMasters 101?
Tsk. People like you lost the Iran war for us.
Kathleen M. Dickson
http://www.actionlyme.org
-------------
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/giraldi.php?articleid=14338
Radical Rethink Needed in Washington
Philip Giraldi
It is time to put an end to fortress America and force Jack Bauer to
retire. President Barack Obama is reportedly reviewing America's
involvement in various conflicts overseas as well as its domestic
defenses. He would be well advised to make the review a thorough one,
starting at zero and challenging every assumption being made about the
nation's security.
Over the past seven years the United States has struck the devil's own
bargain, trading liberty for security and receiving neither in return.
Given the tumult in the U.S. economy, Obama might also consider
broadening the inquiry to include a serious cost-benefit analysis,
because George Bush's Global War on Terror and his monstrous
Department of Homeland Security don't come cheap. Indeed, the heedless
borrowing of money from foreigners to fight a series of wars without
end "to protect the homeland" was undeniably a contributing factor in
America's economic meltdown. The British Empire collapsed due to the
huge budget deficits in running a global enterprise that, like the war
on terror, had no beginning or end and no bottom line. The Soviet
Empire, sheltered for a time by a command economy, was likewise doomed
because its economy could not sustain the burden of a swollen military
budget combined with support of numerous client states.
It is arguably now America's turn to learn about the twilight of
empire. What comes out of the process might well be a new and better
place, but the transformation could be a traumatic one. The stream of
revenue that supports a huge military, more expensive than almost the
rest of the world combined, plus a burgeoning domestic security
complex, could easily vanish if President Obama's stimulus program
fails to work, as is all too likely. The Chinese and Japanese will
call in their chips, and the dollar will sink to the level of the
Belarusian ruble. It is not surprising to note how the generals and
their mouthpieces in the media are already starting to groan and stage
their counterattack, stressing the need for the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan to guarantee America's security. Petraeus and Odierno are
being described as military geniuses on a par with Hannibal and
Napoleon, with the implication that all that is needed is for them to
"finish the job." The bill of goods about trusting the generals has
been sold a number of times in the past seven years, and there is no
reason to assume that it cannot be sold again, even though the
American people are now confronting very hard times.
The issues of security and the federal government budget are, of
course, linked and are further complicated by hidden costs in
maintaining a constant war footing that distorts the economy overall.
America's heavily armed troopers are vastly more expensive than the
conscript grunt of Vietnam, as are the armored vehicles that transport
them into battle, the technical wizardry that supports them, and even
the defense contractors who feed them. The tenuous Iraq supply line
snaking up from Kuwait, guarded as it is by platoons of mercenaries,
drives the cost of food, fuel, and equipment to support the occupation
to unimaginable levels. Harvard economist Joseph Stiglitz has
estimated that the total cost of the war in Iraq alone will exceed $3
trillion, and that war is not over yet. Afghanistan is already
promising to be worse. The supply line from the port of Karachi in
Pakistan up through the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan has been cut
repeatedly over the past three months. The militants have figured out
that the long streams of trucks constitute a vulnerable jugular for
the entire Afghan project. Overland shipment through Turkey and Russia
will increase the costs even more.
Obama should, for starters, negotiate without preconditions with all
of Iraq's neighbors and non-state players to create a stable security
environment for the entire region. Groups and nations described as
"rogues" – Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas – will behave accordingly
if they are deliberately marginalized. Their legitimate concerns need
to be addressed. Obama should then bring the troops home from Iraq,
all of them. There is nothing more that they can accomplish, and it is
time for the Iraqis to sort things out for themselves with America's
best wishes.
Israel should be made to understand that they should roll back the
settlements and seek a viable two-state solution with the Palestinians
or risk forfeiting both economic and political support from
Washington. Obama should then provide evidence that the age of
American imperialism is over by declaring the war in Afghanistan over
and working closely with all relevant parties among the Pakistanis,
Afghans, and Indians to create a security structure for the region
that will preempt any development of a state sponsor of terrorism. He
should then look hard at the other vestiges of America's post-World
War II empire, including the U.S. hostage soldiers in Korea, the large
military presence in Japan, and the still considerable U.S. bases in
Germany. All served a function during the Cold War, but none of them
any longer have any role apart from convincing America's allies that
Washington is serious about mutual defense. Europe, Korea, and Japan
should all work with the United States to determine how to defend
themselves, a relatively easy task as they face no serious threats
apart from a bellicose but barefoot North Korea.
The U.S. defense budget is 40 percent of the world's total for
military expenditures, even though there is no real enemy to fight. By
eliminating "wars of choice" and removing bases around the globe, the
Pentagon budget could be pared down from its projected $663 billion
for 2010 by at least a third to $440 billion. We don't need three more
infantry divisions, as we will not be looking around for someone to
fight, nor the F-22 fighter, as no one can challenge the U.S. in the
air, and we surely don't need more carrier groups, as Washington
already has the world's only blue-water navy.
Obama should also look at the Department of Homeland Security. Its
budget of $50 billion is only the tip of the iceberg, as many of its
costs are subsumed or hidden in other budgets. By all means, take
every step necessary to secure America's borders but the compilation
of no-fly and terrorist lists has been largely a mismanaged fraud,
with many innocent Americans caught up in a Big Brotherish nightmare
from which there is no escape. If there were really as many terrorists
in the U.S. as appear on the list, the homeland would have fallen long
ago. Contrived show trials of paint gunners and pizza delivery men
hardly provide convincing evidence that there is a terrorist hiding
under every bush. Homeland Security has been an albatross ever since
it was created. Its color codes have been a joke, its leadership has
been moribund, and its claims that it has protected the country from
attack have been largely a fiction. It has driven up costs for
American companies operating internationally and turned the U.S. into
a destination that few tourists seek because of a corps of hostile
officials puffed up on testosterone at ports of entry.
And then there is the huge and growing intelligence budget, semi-
officially running around $55 billion but actually at least half again
bigger than that. Shut down the office of the director of national
intelligence, since it only duplicates functions elsewhere and adds
extra layers of bureaucracy and cost. Reconstitute the CIA and give
its director genuine authority over budgets and intelligence
operations worldwide. Then fire most of the tens of thousands of
intelligence contractors and all of the staff employees who are doing
anything that does not directly relate to terrorism or nuclear
proliferation. It really doesn't matter who is elected in Botswana
next month, and we don't need the local CIA station to recruit a spy
to figure it out. Anything that cannot actually harm the United States
we should ignore. That way costs will be reduced and the intelligence
community will become efficient, centralized, and able to truly speak
with one voice. This would also reverse the militarization of
intelligence operations that took place under the Bushies.
A little more lopping here and chopping there and, voilà, there will
be a balanced budget. America will also be able to stand tall in the
world again, no longer the school bully, no longer interfering in
other people's quarrels, a friend to all. A fantasy? Not really. It
could be done. The United States quickly demobilized and returned to a
peacetime economy after the Second World War. In those days, the U.S.
produced more of what it consumed and was energy efficient, with huge
cash reserves, so admittedly things are a little different now. But if
Barack Obama were able to bring about even a tiny shift in direction
for an impoverished America circling the globe in search of dragons,
it would truly be change that we can all believe in.
Digg this!
"[Real] scientists are *fiercely* independent. That's the good
news."-- NIH's Top Fool, Anthony Fauci