dr. hfn
08-15-2009, 01:25 AM
The new president fired missiles into Pakistan, killing at least fifteen people. The locals said three children were killed. Obama's White House, advertised as the most transparent in US history, has no comment. Less than a week into his presidency, and he'd already ordered bombings. Thousands of new troops are being sent to Afghanistan and the war expanded there, thereby destroying any delirious illusion that the faux messiah will try and end the war.
The Democrats and Obama have long emphasized Afghanistan and Pakistan as the central front of the war on terror, appropriating Bush rhetoric and bellicosity with just a change in scenery. But just as none of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi, none were Afghani or Pakistani either.
Yes, there are terrorists in Pakistan, maybe even bin Laden. This was not retribution for 9/11 though, but rather the first major act in Obama's chapter of the indefinite, eternal, and open-ended war on terror. He might have not done Iraq, but he would have waged an even more aggressive war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, if we take his word for it.
In any event, bombings that kill children, nation-building crusades, invasions and occupations are not the effective way to handle terrorism, as many hopeful peaceniks understood as they voted for Obama, hoping for a change toward peace.
This is a great opportunity for President Obama to effect real change in foreign policy, the best most politically viable opportunity for a shift towards humble and peaceful non-intervention since the end of the Cold War. A chance to have friendly relations with Middle Eastern people again like we did 100 years ago before we adopted a foreign policy of interventionism, war, and sticking our nose in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. But Obama is an interventionist, at home and abroad and when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And big government at home and empire abroad are just that hammer. So more "collateral damage" can be expected, as this new administration feels itself out and figures out what it wants to do abroad, in all the third-world nations that presidents view as their playgrounds for imperial experimentation. I recommend visiting the site Antiwar.com, the biggest and best anti-war site on the net, not beholden to corporate interests and government propaganda. The site is run by Justin Raimondo, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party and initially went up in opposition to Clinton's nation building efforts, but has since grown a coalition of libertarians, pacifists, constitutionalists, lefties, old left/classic liberals, greens, and old right/classic conservatives alike.
The Democrats and Obama have long emphasized Afghanistan and Pakistan as the central front of the war on terror, appropriating Bush rhetoric and bellicosity with just a change in scenery. But just as none of the 9/11 hijackers were Iraqi, none were Afghani or Pakistani either.
Yes, there are terrorists in Pakistan, maybe even bin Laden. This was not retribution for 9/11 though, but rather the first major act in Obama's chapter of the indefinite, eternal, and open-ended war on terror. He might have not done Iraq, but he would have waged an even more aggressive war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, if we take his word for it.
In any event, bombings that kill children, nation-building crusades, invasions and occupations are not the effective way to handle terrorism, as many hopeful peaceniks understood as they voted for Obama, hoping for a change toward peace.
This is a great opportunity for President Obama to effect real change in foreign policy, the best most politically viable opportunity for a shift towards humble and peaceful non-intervention since the end of the Cold War. A chance to have friendly relations with Middle Eastern people again like we did 100 years ago before we adopted a foreign policy of interventionism, war, and sticking our nose in the internal affairs of sovereign nations. But Obama is an interventionist, at home and abroad and when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. And big government at home and empire abroad are just that hammer. So more "collateral damage" can be expected, as this new administration feels itself out and figures out what it wants to do abroad, in all the third-world nations that presidents view as their playgrounds for imperial experimentation. I recommend visiting the site Antiwar.com, the biggest and best anti-war site on the net, not beholden to corporate interests and government propaganda. The site is run by Justin Raimondo, one of the founders of the Libertarian Party and initially went up in opposition to Clinton's nation building efforts, but has since grown a coalition of libertarians, pacifists, constitutionalists, lefties, old left/classic liberals, greens, and old right/classic conservatives alike.