Dec 03 2009

Obama’s Vietnam-Lite, and The Revenge Of The Generals

Obama’s widely expected surge in Afghanistan is the “gift” US taxpayers received right in the middle of the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.

The Pentagon for its part got (more or less) what it wanted – for now. As much as Obama stretched himself to stress this was not a new Vietnam, he trapped himself by conflating al-Qaeda with the Taliban and rehashing the same “war on terror” rationale – all clad in the glorious robes of a “noble struggle for freedom”.

Pepe Escobar argues the most significant point about Obama’s West Point address is what he omitted. He simply ignored the current, high-stakes New Great Game in Eurasia, on which the Pentagon is focused like a laser, and of which Afghanistan is just a peon.



Real News Network – December 2, 2009

Obama’s Vietnam-lite

Pepe Escobar: It’s not Vietnam, said Obama, but neither it is what he said it is

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    • Edger on December 3, 2009 at 14:58
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    • #

    Hat Tips to MediaFreeze…

    …during the presidential campaign Obama wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times.

    As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan.

    In April 2008, shortly before Obama wrote his op-ed, there were 32,000.

    When Obama wrote his op-ed piece there was not anyone in the country that believed that he was proposing that he would more than triple the force size in Afghanistan to over 100,000 troops.  A couple brigades was what he said.

    Two brigades is 5,000 to 8,000 troops

    …

    And to Lady Libertine…

    Obama: “We Did Not Ask for This Fight”

    Bush: “We Did Not Seek This Conflict”

    Obama: “New Attacks are Being Plotted as I Speak”

    Bush: “At This Moment … Terrorists are Planning New Attacks”

    Obama: “Our Cause is Just, Our Resolve Unwavering”

    Bush: “Our Cause is Just, Our Coalition [is] Determined”

    Obama: “This Is No Idle Danger, No Hypothetical Threat”

    Bush: “The Enemies of Freedom Are Not Idle”

    Obama: “We Have No Interest in Occupying Your Country”

    Bush: “I Wouldn’t Be Happy if I Were Occupied Either”

    • banger on December 4, 2009 at 02:46
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    While we all knew it was going to happen — when it did it finally put the period at the end of the sentence. We are in a permanent state of imperial war. Even if there is no “reason” for a war it has to continue because the beast must be fed. The same is true of HCR. The beast must be fed. The same is true for the Bankster system the beast must be fed. There is no choice — you cannot say no to these forces. People on the left who believe you can campaign for Democrats or write Congresspeople or media big shots are wrong. You can do nothing. There is no hope and this statement by Obama and the, even more importantly as you pointed out, the style it was couched in is the end of the game. It’s over folks. His use of language was no coincidence. He is telling everyone (my father was a U.S. dimplomat) in no uncertain terms that the imperial armies are marching and will march in perpetuity.

    The American people are demoralized and stupified by and endless barrage of mind-control blasts from the media from American Idol to cable news to the incessant noise people seem to be addicted to.

    The place to do real work, for those of you who are actually interested in change, is to attack and disable the propaganda organs, aka the MSM. Without a systematic attack on the assumptions (the Narrative) no change can happen. Without an exposition of the tricks they use to destroy our judgement (in cahoots with the “educational” system which fragments knowledge so that people are convinced life is meaningless) and our reason we cannot get our message accross.

    Don’t blame politicians or the criminals who make money — put blame where it belongs — the media.

    • Miep on December 4, 2009 at 07:53
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    I’m finding it increasingly difficult to get involved in anything that requires being in one place for any length of time. I can’t get excited about gardening any more,which is enormous for me.

    Because if I have to go march on Washington, my plants will die anyway.

    And I don’t know what else to do but give up any kind of homesteading. I don’t have kids. Maybe I could bring my dog with me.

    I don’t drive, I don’t know how.

    They’re not listening. Look at what we had to do (well the generation or two before me) just to get African-Americans civil rights. It was bad.

    Look at what had to go down to get out of VietNam.

    I’m feeling very patriotic these days.  

  4. We have always been at war with Oceania.

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