February 2007
Monthly Archive
February 17, 2007
Well, the Department of Foreign Affairs has squandered tax dollars to come up with a study telling Harper how best to spin the Afghan mission to the Canadian public.
The study tells him not to use words like, “freedom, democracy, liberty – in combination this phrase comes across as sounding too American.”
Instead they want Harper to say Canadian things like, “rebuilding,” “restoring,” “reconstruction,” “hope,” “opportunity” and “enhancing the lives of women and children.”
Not mentioned seems to be the word “honesty.” Then again, prepping the Boss to spin Canadians really doesn’t have much to do with honesty, does it?
“The Tory communications problems are compounded by “a general perception that this government is already closely aligned with the U.S. on other fronts,” the report states.
“To counter this, the Tories should seek opportunities to “underscore Canadian sovereignty” and quash the view there is an “overly-close, dominant-subservient” relationship between the two countries.”
February 17, 2007
You’ll know that America has truly made progress in Iraq when its leaders no longer feel they can only travel there by “surprise visits.”
Condi Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad today to warn the Maliki government that Americans have run out of patience and expect to see tangible signs that democracy has truly taken hold in Iraq, “The American people want to see results and can’t wait forever.”
“Some of the debate in Washington is in fact indicative of the concerns that some of the American people have for the prospects of success if the Iraqi government doesn’t do what it has said it will do,” Rice said.
Bringing democracy to Iraq, if that is possible at all, is of a generational scale, a reality for which the US does not have either patience or committment. That might be viable in a homogenous state not undermined by internal ethnic and sectarian divisions, but that would be someplace like Japan, not Iraq.
Rice has made clear that Iraq’s future hinges on one thing above all else – America’s dwindling patience. That patience, in turn, has been defined by the way this adventure was sold to the American people: invasion, regime change, almost instantaneous democracy and exit – six months at the outside. It was all bundled up as a neat, clean and tidy package but it was really a bag chock full of delusion and deceit.
Imagine if Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice had gone on the Sunday morning talk shows to announce that they wanted to topple Saddam but that it would entail an occupation of at least ten and probably twenty years, would cost easily a trillion dollars or more, would cost thousands of American lives and scores of thousands of wounded and, even then, might not work. But they didn’t. They cast out fantasies, dangerous myths and illusions. Just what did they think was going to happen to their political support when their own people stopped believing their fantasies?
February 17, 2007
It’s entitled Saving Afghanistan and it’s only ten pages. Brief as it is, this report from the Council on Foreign Relations’ journal Foreign Affairs presents one of the most coherent and effective summaries of Afghanistan; its history, its paradoxes and dilemmas, what’s needed to turn it around and why. You can find it here:
If you read these ten pages you’ll have a better working understanding of the Afghanistan challenge and how those countries behind “the mission,” Canada included, are getting the fundamentals wrong. Harper and, especially, Hillier need to read this – maybe even take a pop quiz on it.
We’re spinning our wheels in Afghanistan. In part that’s because we’re fighting only one of several wars that are underway in that country and region and the war we’ve chosen to fight isn’t going to resolve the others. We’re struggling mightily to prop up something that is rotting out before our eyes – the Kabul government of Hamid Karzai and its thoroughly corrupt judicial system and security forces.
We’re not fighting this to win. We’re there to fight battles, not to win a war. It’s now widely accepted that 80% of what we recognize as Taliban forces aren’t even actual Talibs, Islamic extremists. They’re disgruntled Afghan nationalists and those who’ve been preyed upon by the Karzai corruption and those who’ve lost family members to our air strikes plus even more who simply need a job. That 80% is the hallmark of our failure and it speaks to the futility of trying to wage a counter-insurgency on the cheap.
In Vietnam, America won all the battles. It just never figured out how to win the war. Hillier and Harper are also fixated on fighting battles because the question of what it will take to win this war is one that, for them, is better left unasked.
February 17, 2007
I’m no longer astounded yet still amused at the vitriolic comments increasingly left by you right-wing nutbars. You know who you are. Nine out of ten of you are named “anonymous,” presumably because that gives you the Dutch Courage to pursue your rants. Most of you are far too craven and cowardly to leave your name or e-mail identification.
Your favourite derisive term seems to be “sick.” To say something critical of Steven Harper or Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter or George Bush or the Global War Without End on Terror is “sick.” Yeah, …okay.
Some of you, such as the guy who goes by “Ex-NDIP” seem to have figured out that your comments will be posted here but only so long as they’re free of any excessive invective (You can still call me many things but “sick” goes way too far). To the contrary, even ill-informed or ill-conceived views are welcome because, without them, there can be no debate, no honing of perspective and values.
There are, however, others who simply want to hurl insults, to snarl and spit from the security of obscurity. Here’s what I really need to say to you. I’ve had a career dealing with your type and you’re about as predictable as the waterfowl migration or, sunrise.
Where I once truly appreciated seeing your kind was when I was having you sworn in before a court reporter or a judge. The look that came over your face (and there was just the one, one very common face) was a reward unto itself. Suddenly it struck you that it was showtime, the moment of truth. For once in your life you had to stand by your boastful invective and defend yourself against your own words. Best of all, it was me you were stealing obviously fearful glances of and I could always tell.
Today, of course, it’s all on the internet. That really doesn’t change the fact that I know you guys and I know you really, really well. I’ve seen you all so many times before, I can quite often put a real person’s face and a name to your comment. I realize it’s not yours but it is a person so very much like you.
But I digress. As I cannot make you defend your invective, pleased be advised I’m simply going to delete it. If, however, you would like to invite me to your site, I’d be pleased to respond.
Better yet, let’s form teams.
The One, The Only, The Mound-Of-Sound.
February 16, 2007
Big news out of Baghdad. The civilian death rate in the city dropped overnight from the average of 40 to only 10.
Iraqi army Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, a spokesman for the Baghdad commander, said, “This shows a big reduction in terror and killing operations in Baghdad.” He attributed the improvement to the joint US-Iraqi security operation that began a few days ago.
Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, said the militia fighters and insurgents are laying low, for now, “They’re watching us carefully. There’s an air of suspense throughout the city. We believe, there’s no question about it, that many of these extremists are laying low and watching to see what it is we do and how we do it. How long that will last, we don’t know.”
February 16, 2007
Okay – Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and the others, they’ve come to define political satire in the United States. Soon, however, Comedy Central is going to face some competition from the “fair and balanced ” agit-prop channel FOX News.
It’s going to be a extreme right Daily Show and, judging by the cast, it’s bound to be – crap. The new show, “The Half Hour News Hour,” will feature such accomplished gagsters as Rush Limbaugh, reprising the role of President of the United States of America, and Ann Coulter as his Veep. Anyone who’s ever caught Limbaugh’s or Coulter’s own programmes has to be left wondering why they thought they needed a new vehicle for comedy.
As I don’t get FOX News I won’t be able to tune in but I think the show title may need some tweaking. With the likes of Coulter and Limbaugh maybe they should change it from HHNH to “Back Passage.”
February 15, 2007
Asia Times has published an op-ed piece from Kim Myong-chol, an “unofficial” spokesman of Kim Jong-il and North Korea.
The remarks and the tone used by Kim give little reason to hope that North Korea is finally ready to act responsibly:
“Two things combine to make this 65th birthday [of Kim Jong-il] anniversary and the Lunar New Year most auspicious. The first is that Kim has led the DPRK to score a fifth straight bloodless victory over the world’s sole superpower by “outsmarting the US in the game of nuclear bluff” as The Sunday Times in London put it on February 4. He has emerged the first national hero in the 5,000 years of Korean history to fulfill the long-elusive ambition of the Korean people to acquire military capabilities to take the war from the Land of Morning Calm to the heart of the metropolitan USA.
“The second is the little-known fact that the birthdate of Kim Jong-il, February 16, 1942, coincides with the Lunar New Year universally observed in East Asia.
“The most significant fact about the six-party talks that ended this Tuesday is US President George W Bush waving a white flag, offering to allow the DPRK to retain its nuclear arsenal as it is. It means the shared recognition of the five parties and the DPRK as a nuclear-weapons state and the US notice that it would lift its financial crackdown on the Korean state.
“The five parties – the US, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia – agreed to provide the DPRK with a huge amount of energy, up to a million tons of fuel oil, in compensation for the suspended operation of an outdated and expendable nuclear site. The DPRK government of Kim Jong-il renews its determination to use its nuclear umbrella to contribute to maintaining peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and in the rest of the world.”
This rhetoric sounds pretty ominous but, then again, did anyone really believe that Kim Jong-Il could be trusted for long?
February 15, 2007
There appears to be broad support for establishing term limits for Canadian Senators. It’s being suggested that appointments be limited to 12-to 15-years.
On balance, this seems like a good idea. It ensures some prospect of replacing those who’ve become unfit to serve due to age or impairment.
A sticking point is term length. The Tories want an 8-year term. Stephane Dion points out that such a short term would mean that a long-serving prime minister would be able to replace the entire senate to one of his own liking. To avoid that, the Libs want the term limit extended to between 12 and 15-years.
The Liberals remain staunchly opposed to any attempt to make the senate elected. Despite all the noise about electing senators, it is pretty much a naive proposal. The provinces would undoubtedly want a say in it and, probably, a constitutional amendment.
In an elected senate it would be hard to justify allocating seats other than on a provincial population basis. That would increase the representation of Central Canada at the expense of the West.
An elected senate would also bring partisanship to the forefront and those elected would have a legitimate argument that they also had a legislative function similar to MPs.
February 15, 2007
It’s pretty clear that some of the explosives and ordinance that Iraqi militias and insurgents alike have been using were made in Iran. How they got into Iraq and, once there, how they wound up in the hands of both Shiite and Sunni fighters isn’t clear. Given the level of corruption within the Iraqi government and security services, the blame may well lie with the Baghdad government.
The Tehran government, however, may have a tougher time explaining how 100-Austrian made, Steyr sniper rifles wound up in the wrong hands in Iraq. These are .50 calibre rifles that pack an awesome punch, capable of penetrating light armour from up to a mile away.
Over British and American objections, the Austrian government approved the sale of 800 of these rifles to Iran, ostensibly to be used in countering drug smuggling. So far the Americans have found 100-of them in Iraq. They claim the serial numbers of the captured Steyrs prove they’re from the Iran sale.
This still doesn’t prove that top Iranian leaders were directly involved in getting these weapons into Iraq but it certainly leaves them with some accounting to do. Then again, the Steyr, lethal as it may be, can even be had via the internet.
February 15, 2007
In the last parliament, Stephen Harper didn’t pass up an opportunity to lambaste the minority government of Paul Martin for not working with the opposition.
Now the shoe is on the other foot and the sanctimonious control freak is showing an arrogance for his own minority rule that is both hypocritical and outrageous. As James Travers writes, Harper is a master of the Big Lie:
“Confirmation of Ottawa’s new order is found in the current and bizarre confrontation over the Kyoto Protocol. Having already decided that this country’s international treaty commitments aren’t binding on his government, Stephen Harper is now signalling the same who-cares attitude to domestic law.
“Conservatives are simply dismissing a bill that gives the administration 60 days to announce plans to reach Canada’s 2012 Kyoto goals. After tossing obstacle after obstacle in the bill’s 10-month path through Parliament, the Prime Minister’s operatives now compare it to reversing the laws of gravity while darkly warning that the targets are now so far out of range that firing at them would mark the economy as ground zero.
“Like most Big Lies, there’s a little truth in those.
“First Liberal and now Conservative foot-dragging has left Canada far behind nations in the environmental vanguard. It’s also obvious that considerable sacrifice is now required to make up for lost time.
“Those are important considerations. But they are no longer the most pressing concerns.
What’s more worrying than the government’s environmental sincerity is its default character. It’s so cocksure, so blinded by the beauty of its convictions, that it bowls over anything in its way.
“Woven through its declared willingness to ride roughshod over Parliament is the same single-minded determination that is driving its attempts to add partisanship and ideology to the appointment of judges. Both are risky steps in the wrong direction. “
It’s one thing for Harpo to treat the stooges in his own caucus and cabinet this way but, while he may not be willing to accept it, Canada is still a democracy and the Commons has spoken, clearly and unequivocally. If Stevie can’t respect and defend our fundamental institutions, it’s time he skulked back to Alberta.
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