Tag: Pakistan

The Drone Wars

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Since taking office in 2009, President Obama has waged an increasing clandestine war using unmanned drones controlled by civilians members of the CIA. In a recent article Washington Post‘s Greg Miller exposes some troubling aspects of the program which has little oversight or control:

In the space of three years, the administration has built an extensive apparatus for using drones to carry out targeted killings of suspected terrorists and stealth surveillance of other adversaries. The apparatus involves dozens of secret facilities, including two operational hubs on the East Coast, virtual Air Force­ ­cockpits in the Southwest and clandestine bases in at least six countries on two continents. [..]

The rapid expansion of the drone program has blurred long-standing boundaries between the CIA and the military. Lethal operations are increasingly assembled a la carte, piecing together personnel and equipment in ways that allow the White House to toggle between separate legal authorities that govern the use of lethal force.

In Yemen, for instance, the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command pursue the same adversary with nearly identical aircraft. But they alternate taking the lead on strikes to exploit their separate authorities, and they maintain separate kill lists that overlap but don’t match. CIA and military strikes this fall killed three U.S. citizens, two of whom were suspected al-Qaeda operatives. [..]

Obama himself was “oddly passive in this world,” the former official said, tending to defer on drone policy to senior aides whose instincts often dovetailed with the institutional agendas of the CIA and JSOC.

Joshua Foust in The Atlantic observes that there are consequences for the successes claimed by the Obama Administration:

In the countries where the drone system is most active — Pakistan and Yemen — relations with local governments and communities are awful, and perceptions of the United States could barely be any worse. There is agreement seemingly only on the need for long distance killing, and even then — especially in Pakistan — there is a great deal of contention.

In fact, one could argue that the severe degradation of relations with Pakistan, which are driven to a large degree by popular anger over drone strikes (as well as a parallel perception among some Pakistani elites that the U.S. disregards Pakistani sovereignty at will), is driving the current U.S. push to ship supplies and, eventually, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, through Uzbekistan.

Besides the political consequences, Foust notes the reorientation of the intelligence community to this killing program may hinder its ability of collecting and analyzing the data needed and a heavy reliance on information from sketchy local partners that can, and has, resulted in unnecessary fatalities. His opinion of Obama’s expansion of the drone war is scathing:

This sloppiness with life and death decisions is a substantial moral failing, and should be a huge scandal for President Obama. But, he has decided to both distance himself from it while also taking credit for its successes, even as it focuses on ever less important and marginal figures within the terrorist milieu. [..]

It is an absolute scandal. We owe ourselves better questions and more accountability of the drones we use to wantonly kill people around the planet.

Senior reporter for Wired.com’s Danger Room, Spencer Ackerman, discussed the sharp increase in drone attacks to do the military’s job since Obama took office.

Trans News Digest

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has asked all ob-gyns to either prepare to provide routine treatment and screening to transpeople or else refer them to other physicians in order to address health care disparities and improve our access to care.

In a Committee Opinion published November 22, The College also states its opposition to discrimination on the basis of gender identity and supports both public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender disphoria.

Transgender patients have many of the same health care needs as the rest of our patients.   It would be wonderful if all transgender patients had the resources to be seen in a specialized clinic, but the reality is that many forgo care because they don’t. By increasing the number of ob-gyns providing care to transgender patients we can help improve the overall health of the transgender community.

–Eliza Buyers, MD, former member of The College’s Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women, who helped develop the new recommendations

Blowback and news from the 6th War

   Ever since WWII it has been more and more difficult to define our “wars”. The line tends to get blurry when the President doesn’t have to consult Congress before sending in troops.

  However, when you are bombing a nation, and occasionally using ground troops, then I think it is defined as a war. Just because we aren’t trying to overthrow a government (i.e. Iraq and Libya) doesn’t mean we aren’t at war (i.e. Iraq and Afghanistan). Of course this means that we are at war in Pakistan, just at a lower intensity.

  Oh sure, there will be people who deny it. But consider the lessons of history on how easily bombing a nation can turn into a broadening war (i.e. Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia).

 There are many reasons why it is important to acknowledge how many wars we are engaged in. Not the least of which is so that it focuses the public on what our government is up to, rather than ignoring our foreign policy disasters until there is blowback.

 This means that we must pay attention to what our government is doing in Yemen, and most of all, Somalia.  

HONORING THE FALLEN: US Military KIA, Iraq & Afghanistan/Pakistan – June 2011

The Young Men of The Old Guard of Arlington National Cemetery


Arlington National Cemetery’s Old Guard Carry A Heavy Burden




The Old Guard


On Redistribution, Or, “Afghanistan Peace Dividend Stimulus Lotto? OK!”

They tell us we’re dropping about $10 billion a month in Afghanistan so we can catch that Bin Laden guy…but eventually, we’re gonna catch him, and as soon as we do you can imagine that folks will be wondering why we’re still over there – and I gotta tell ya, I’m one of those people.

I mean, we’re over here talking about how we’re so broke that we have no choice but to cut a couple of billion from heat assistance for the poor, and a billion-and-a-half from the Social Security operations budget, and money from food stamps and childcare assistance and tornado forecasting in Alabama…but every single month, just as regular as clockwork, we seem to be able to find another $10 billion to spend in Afghanistan, even as we have an economy that could badly use another round of truly productive stimulus.

And I don’t think y’all even realize just how much money $10 billion really is – but today we’re gonna see if we can’t fix that with a bit of a thought exercise.

Imagine if we set up a program that took that Afghanistan money and spent it right here at home for a year or two – and it was spent in the form of a lottery, where we stimulate the larger economy, help fix the mortgage crisis, and create a more energy-independent nation, all at the same time.

I got all we need except a catchy name; with that in mind let’s move on to the description of how the Happy Super Fun Day Peace Lotto Stimulus Thingy works.  

Truth, Justice and the American Way

The killing of Osama Bin Laden the late scion of a great Saudi family closely connected to the Saudi royals shows the exact condition of American culture. Bin Laden and the other people who were in the compound could have been arrested. I doubt, surprised as they were, they offered much resistance against heavily armed and armored troops. It will be interesting to hear if anyone in the propaganda media will wonder why these people were killed. Also, it is interesting that he was said to have been “buried at sea.” Of course no one will wonder–well did they actually kill Bin Laden? We have no proof he was killed. It is possible, for example, that Bin Laden had been dead for quite a while and the PR people figures it was time to rev up some blood-lust.

This sort of brings us full-circle to the question of what really happened on 9/11 and whether Bin Laden was ever really involved. I have, personally, seen no evidence of his involvement though clearly an organization called Al-qaida seems to have been involved. But who were these people? Where did they come from? I leave that to the reader to look into. Since I have some knowledge of how covert ops and politics (which is often full of all kinds of covert ops, false flag operations and so on) I know that evidence is important in these matters and the evidence for any of the governments assertions is just no there. And it seems to be a pattern. Oh, you killed Osama–where’s the body? Oh, we dropped him in the ocean man he was, like, heavy. Ok, of course I believe you–you are the U.S. gov’t and you’re always straight with us, right?  

100 Years of Hate, Beginning Today

Pak2

An American drone attack in Datta Khel, Pakistan killed 44 people, including 13 children, on March 17, 2011.

One of the elders, Malik Faridullah Wazir Khan told the BBC that “the area was completely covered in blood. There were no bodies, only body parts – hands, legs and eyes scattered around. People carried away the body parts in shopping bags and clothing or with bits of wood, whatever they could find.”

“We are a people who wait 100 years to exact revenge. We never forgive our enemy.”

Pak

“We announce a jihad against the US and her allies sitting in our country,” said Malik Jalal Sarhadi Qat Khel, another tribal leader. “We will avenge our tribesmen at any cost, even if it takes a hundred years.”

 

Arrrrrghhh !!!

As Lieberman deliberated, the new chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), told HuffPost that the party would consider supporting Lieberman if he returned to the fold.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…

Joe Lieberman,Senator Joe Lieberman

Joe & George the President


The feeling of ill will is mutual: Lieberman said during the health care debate that one reason he opposed a Medicare buy-in compromise was that progressives were embracing it.

Joe Lieberman and John McCain

Joe & John the Presidential Candidate




March 20, 2003

” What we are doing here is not only in the interest of the safety of the American people. Believe me, Saddam Hussein would have used these weapons against us eventually or given them to terrorists who would have. But what we are doing here, in overthrowing Saddam and removing those weapons of mass destruction and taking them into our control, is good for the security of people all over the world, including the Iraqi people themselves.”

http://www.lobelog.com/lieberm…

John McCain Joe Lieberman,McCain,Lieberman

Joe and John in Iraq


September 29, 2011.    10 years and 18 days after 9-11 attacks on NYC



” It is time for us to take steps that make clear that if diplomatic and economic strategies continue to fail to change Iran’s nuclear policies, a military strike is not just a remote possibility in the abstract, but a real and credible alternative policy that we and our allies are ready to exercise.

It is time to retire our ambiguous mantra about all options remaining on the table. It is time for our message to our friends and enemies in the region to become clearer: namely, that we will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability — by peaceful means if we possibly can, but with military force if we absolutely must. A military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities entails risks and costs, but I am convinced that the risks and costs of allowing Iran to obtain a nuclear weapons capability are much greater.

Some have suggested that we should simply learn to live with a nuclear Iran and pledge to contain it. In my judgment, that would be a grave mistake. As one Arab leader I recently spoke with pointed out, how could anyone count on the United States to go to war to defend them against a nuclear-armed Iran, if we were unwilling to go to war to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran? Having tried and failed to stop Iran’s nuclear breakout, our country would be a poor position to contain its consequences.

I also believe it would be a failure of U.S. leadership if this situation reaches the point where the Israelis decide to attempt a unilateral strike on Iran. If military action must come, the United States is in the strongest position to confront Iran and manage the regional consequences. This is not a responsibility we should outsource. We can and should coordinate with our many allies who share our interest in stopping a nuclear Iran, but we cannot delegate our global responsibilities to them.”

http://www.lobelog.com/lieberm…

http://lieberman.senate.gov/in…

Pakistan’s Punjab Governor Taseer Assassinated

News Being Ignored by the cable TeeVee AMSM Dept, not that we’re in a covert war or anything:

Tuesday, Jan 4, 2011. The governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer, age 56,  has been assassinated in the northern capital of Islamabad by one of his bodyguards.   Taseer was a member of the Bhutto legacy Pakistan People’s Party.  In 2008, the president of Pakistan, Zadari, appointed him governor of Punjab, which is Pakistan’s wealthiest province and in the east along the Indian border.   According to Al Jazeera, Taseer, who was visiting Islamabad, was not being guarded by his usual security detail. The alleged assassin was from Rawalpindi, which is slightly south of Islamabad, and that is where former PM Benazir Bhutto was also killed in 2007 by a bomb explosion.  Rawalpindi is the headquarters of the Pakistani Army and Air Force.

Tomorrow, January 5th, was to be the anniversary celebration of the birth of Bhutto’s father,   Zufikar Ali Bhutto.  

The government has closed parliament and announced a three day period of mourning.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…

Last month he publicly supported Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman and mother of three who has been sentenced to death for allegedly insulting the prophet Muhammad. Bibi’s case has triggered a fresh debate around the blasphemy laws, which human rights groups say are frequently abused to settle scores or target minorities.

Enraged PPP supporters took to the streets across Pakistan, chanting slogans and weeping. A procession of ashen-faced ministers and officials trailed into the Islamabad hospital where Taseer’s body was taken after the shooting. “These are the forces that are ranged against us,” said Latif Khosa, a former attorney general. “Every time our party comes to power, its leaders are assassinated or disappear.”

Foreshadowing ?


Monday, Jan 3rd, 2011.  

http://www.reuters.com/article…

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s government lost its parliamentary majority Sunday when the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) announced it would go into opposition over fuel price policies.

The former military chief (Musharraf), who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, has lived in self-imposed exile since he stepped down under threat of impeachment in 2008. He spends most of his time in London and Dubai.

Musharraf said: “I must return (to Pakistan) well before the next elections, whenever that may be. I strongly believe the real momentum for my party will start once I reach Pakistan. So we are trying to create an environment for me to reach there.”

HONORING THE FALLEN: US Military KIA, Iraq & Afghanistan/Pakistan – December 2010

Wreaths Across America

Honor our living brothers and sisters all the time! Fully Fund the Veterans Administration, no questions asked, as we fund the Department of Defense, no questions asked. Sacrifice comes from the rest who send those of us who serve into Wars and Occupations of others, they and their families are not the only ones who should be Sacrificing their all!

How to Win Friends and Influence Nations

Reading the news of this past week, it is easy to see why the U.S. strategy in Pakistan is failing. Over the weekend, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao of China was in Islamabad praising Pakistan’s efforts fighting terrorism and pledged to increase trade between the two countries, the NY Times reported.

China has not uncovered any new secret in diplomacy that is allow it such breakthroughs. Really, it almost seems as if Wen is following the advice found in the book 人性的弱点 (The Weakness of Human Nature) or as it is better know, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie.

Consider three of Carnegie’s key principles:

  1. 不要批評,責怪或抱怨 or don’t criticize, condemn or complain.

  2. 獻出你真實,誠懇的讚賞 or give honest and sincere appreciation.

  3. 引起別人的渴望 or arouse in the other person an eager want.

Vietnam Conflict Over? Not By A Long Shot!

And you may be living real close to more then one ‘enemy’, though was once a great allie of ours, weapons of mass destruction that lingers on today!

After Vietnam the country made a collective “We will never forget the mistakes!” statement than quickly moved on, forgetting everything as to the lessons of guerilla insurgent warfare, the why those invaded and occupied fight back, the results of War, Everything, even the Military who’ve shown in these two modern Wars of Choice, Afghanistan stopped being anything about 9/11 with the drums beat pointed at Iraq and us Not keeping the promise of helping them rebuild, after we rid the country of a brutal regime and international criminal terrorist and stopped going after them, just ask the bush, he even stated he stpped even thinking about bin Laden.

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