We Cannot Allow An Unmanned Drone Bomber Gap!

It's the classic case of keeping up with the neighbors. Especially the new ones: the hoards from America who always wear helmets, build massive bases of operation, bring along thousands of "independent contractors", and tend to shoot first and ask questions later.

The latest object of regional envy for militaries in the Middle East: killer drones. The USA introduced them, now everybody wants them.

First, the Iranian government announces they have a new unmanned military drone bomber. Iranian President Ahmabinejad said "The jet, as well as being an ambassador of death for the enemies of humanity, has a main message of peace and friendship." The remote-controlled flying weapon's estimated range means local major enemies of humanity - like Israel - remain out of reach. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-ml-iran-unmanned-bomber,0,4364976.story

Iranian officials gaze admiringly at a model of their new drone.  It will strike fear in enemies of humanity who are within its 620 mile range - and will probably just cause mild anxiety to those farther away.

Then Israel announces, they too have a new unmanned miltary drone. According the the Telegraph in London, "Israel considers Iran a strategic threat because of ...repeated references by its leaders to the Jewish state's destruction." Wouldn't do to have a flying drone gap with an archenemy, so the Israeli version can make it all the way to Tehran:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/7287623/Israel-unveils-unmanned-drones-which-can-fly-to-Iran.html

No models here - the Israeli drone makes an appearance. It's capable of carrying diverse payloads - like propaganda leaflets to drop over Iran.

In the meantime, the Middle East pioneer in the field of conducting aerial bombing via remote control - the USA - is way ahead of the game. Actively using them for years now, our tax dollars are funding more operators in obscure Nevada locations and increasing robot drone attacks in Afghanistan (courtesy the U.S. military) and Pakistan (courtesy the CIA):

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/20/world/asia/20drones.html?_r=1

American drone on the job, firing away - is it collateral damage if we bomb targets in an ally's territory?

But remember, as noted in the Telegraph article, President Ahmabinejad has touted spectacular weapons advances before that didn't amount to much. Remember the Iranian long-range missile announcement a couple of years ago?

Iran's latest rocket technology takes flight - with Plan B waiting on the bench. Good thing the Japanese goverment is friendly with Israel.

Besides, we can't let the Iranians usurp our best military slogan!  Peace and friendship?  That's why you call in the USA - we're the professionals:

General Jack D. Ripper and Colonel Lionel Mandrake exemplify the Strategic Air Command's motto: Peace Is Our Profession.

Just in case you thought Stanley Kubrick made that last one up:

Circa 1962 - after all the US military doesn't kid around. Now you kids get off my lawn!

90 Obama Administration Accomplishments In Two Years?

I'm getting tired of this photo, but it has yet to go out of style.

I recently received a list originated by Dr. Robert Watson of Lynn University in November 2009, who has decided the media is overlooking the many "accomplishments" of the Obama Administration. His enumeration of "90 Accomplishments Of The Obama Administration In Two Years" is an interesting resume: a mix of random acts of kindness, some common-sense moves back to the political middle (which is still leaning decisively to the right) and many, many preparations for supposed future actions – studies, evaluations, reviews, plans.

But the next major campaign for President will begin next year, so there’s not much time for these learning sessions to turn into actions. You can see the list here: http://www.tellingthoughts.com/asides/obamas-90-accomplishments-email-list (open up a second tab so you can reference some of the points - no need to reprint the entire entry here).

As Mr. Watson points out, Mr. Obama has undoubtedly been active, but some things on this list are flat wrong.

Policy is one thing, but there has been no change yet to the actual tax code to punish corporate job outsourcing. See how India – a major destination for outsourced jobs – sees the situation (Accomplishment #48, a hint: they aren't worried: http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=383970). The tax credits for many hybrid car purchasers are largely cut or already gone (#37, http://www.hybridcars.com/federal-incentives.html). Many veterans benefits upgrades started in 2008, (enacted by Congress in 2007), the new law is the Credit Card Reform Act of 2008 (#49, pre-Obama), and how do we know overseas secret prisons are being closed (#27) - weren't they "secret" to begin with? There has been little news since April 2010, when CIA Director Leon Panetta (a former member of British Petroleum's 'special advisory board' for government lobbying) said they were closed - cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die! But there are some exceptions: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/09/AR2009040902497.html.

For me, the bottom line on President Obama are his most expensive actions: his first two defense budgets have been among the largest in American history, over $660 billion per year. Hope and change? I cannot count expanding both wars (#81) and the military (#61) as “accomplishments.” Troops may be leaving Iraq (#4), but they are rotating to a new front (#81).

Shifting troops from Iraq to an intensified, expanding war in Afghanistan, increasing attacks by drone-piloted weapons in Pakistan, continuing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on weapons research are some of the President's real accomplishments since his inauguration. The enormous costs of the USA’s aggressive military/industrial/legislative complex - financial, political, social, and spiritual - outweigh nearly every "accomplishment" on Dr. Watson's list. Our government uses our tax dollars for its major export: weapons and war.

Cutting the F-22 warplane funding (#13) and scrapping a missile program (#30) represents $2.15 billion out of a $660 billion military budget (2010) - much ado about relatively nothing. That’s $660 billion for one year – more than half of federal expenditures every year go to the military. More money is spent on the military by the USA - our tax dollars - than the rest of the planet combined!

Keep multiplying that $600 billion figure out for the last ten years and the next twenty, and then ask yourself: is this why we allegedly cannot pay for universal health care, infrastructure improvements, or education upgrades? And then ask why defense issues are seemingly never discussed - a taboo subject - when overheated rhetoric about out-of-control government spending comes spewing out of politicians.

The best part – the President said he would veto the entire defense budget if the suddenly controversial $1.75 billion for the F-22 remained! http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/21/senate.f22/ Seriously? Is that a joke? Cut out social services, cut out regulatory oversight funding, cut out helping kids and seniors, but keep those bombs rolling! How has the President changed that landscape?

On the issues of open government and transparency…well, much like VP Dick Cheney’s closed-door energy meetings, the Obama White House banned public inspection of the guest books during the time that insurance/pharmaceutical companies were visiting the White House to cut their history-making deal. It was only after a Freedom of Information Act request was filed (#8) that the records were opened: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/04/see-the-white-houses-heal_n_277707.html . I guess it's called an "accomplishment" when a taxpayer-funded entity agrees to finally abide by the transparency thing.

On many other open government fronts however, the Obama Administration continues to fight lawsuits aimed at opening up its under-cover operations (#9) – on issues ranging from domestic surveillance/spying to “state secrets” to 9/11 photos to EPA hazard sites and more:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/06/17/transparency/#postid-updateA4.

No time to get into financial sector “reform”, bank bailouts, that crazy "we don't torture, but we reserve the right to" protocol (#28), and the implementation of the planet’s only exclusively-for-profit health care system. Or the assertion that Mr. Obama’s style is encouraging bi-partisanship (really?) and is not heavy-handed (just ask Dem legislators who the White House threatened to ignore in the next election cycle if they failed to vote for the Health Care reform: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7450237/Barack-Obama-threatens-to-withdraw-support-from-wavering-Democrats.html).

Ninety accomplishments? Dr. Watson's research is a little shaky in places, and his "three cheers for war!" listings don't ring as "accomplishments" for anyone interested in peace, diplomacy and using our country's immense wealth to help people instead of coercing and killing them. By now, even the most ardent Obama supporters must realize that he will not be ending our wars of occupation in the Middle East during his term - as Dr. Watson notes enthusiastically, the opposite is occurring.

Dr. Watson assails the media for biased reporting. The military and continuing promulgation of “state secrets” are just two of the major issues that the media fails to present to the American public about the Obama Administration on a regular, unbiased basis. Ever ask yourself why?

Stranger Than Fiction? Your Tax Dollars At Work: Blowing Things Up

Dave Lindorff at Information Clearinghouse says it best, so there's little need to do anything but recap the lead and send you over there to read his words:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25206.htm

Our tax dollars will fund a United States government budget that devotes 53% of its revenues to the military and all its associated ancillary operations. More than half of the money spent by our federal institutions go to blow things up, kill people, or buy the weapons and materials necessary to prepare for those eventualities.

That is the value system we citizens perpetuate. Our budget reflects our values - or somebody's values.

Is creating a global police/military force really where Americans want to spend the majority of their money? If you had a choice, would you really choose guns and bombs over improving health care, providing money to upgrade the educational system, building new energy infrastructures, or hundreds of other worthy projects that truly benefit all citizens?

Really? We want to spend most of our money on weapons and death? What are we afraid of?

This situation can be fixed. The example is right there in the very fine film "Stranger Than Fiction." IRS auditor Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) enters the bakery owned by Ana Pascal (Maggie Gyllennhaal) to discuss her non-payment of taxes:

Ana Pascal: Listen, I'm a big supporter of fixing potholes and erecting swing sets and building shelters. I am *more* than happy to pay those taxes. I'm just not such a big fan of the percentage that the government uses for national defense, corporate bailouts, and campaign discretionary funds. So, I didn't pay those taxes. I think I sent a letter to that effect with my return.

Harold Crick: Would it be the letter that begins "Dear Imperialist Swine"? It says, in the file, that you only paid part of your taxes for last year.

Ana: That's right.

Harold: Looks like only 78 percent.

Ana: Yep.

Harold: So you did it on purpose?

Ana: Yep.

Harold: So you must've been expecting an audit.

Ana: Um, I was expecting a fine, or a sharp reprimand.

Harold: A reprimand? This isn't boarding school, Miss Pascal. You stole from the government.

Ana: No I didn't steal from the government. I just didn't pay you *entirely*.

We need more people to decide to not pay "entirely." What if everyone only sent in 47% of their tax bill and let the military-industrialist-congressional powerbrokers figure out how to pay for their profits?

Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran?

All together now, to the tune of "Barbara Ann," as popularized by John McCain. The bunker-busting Blu-110 and Blu-117 smart bombs are the middle and bottom respectively.

The Empire moves in mysterious ways...or it posts its military shipping manifests in public places. Since many duties formerly performed by the US military are now outsourced to private contractors, it's sometimes harder to shield activities from the public.

Unless you live in the United States, where you will be saved from learning about such details by our benevolent corporate media.

That's why this story from Scotland is so interesting. The Navy, according to public records, is shipping hundreds of bunker-busting smart bombs to a US military base in the Indian Ocean. Now which of our many terrorist enemies might have underground bunkers that need busting? Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan? Militants in Iraq? Those pesky Hamas leaders in Lebanon and Gaza? Not them?

How about Iran! The government in Tehran been raised as a specter of global doom for the last decade by the USA. Probably because they figured out that if they have a nuclear bomb, the USA won't attack them. So it appears that the Nobel Peace Prize winner has approved moving some heavy weaponry into place for another round of saber rattling. Or something more.

Now Mr. Obama is a smoother fellow than his predecessors, so he might not go public with the overt threats for a while. But rest assured that the Iranian government is aware that the big bombs are heading over for rapid deployment, should the situation arise. For the opinions of European observers following the developments, read all about it here: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/final-destination-iran-1.1013151

Good to see that yet another Bush-Cheney priority - using the military might of the Empire to cower those who don't want to play ball by our rules - is alive and well in the Obama Administration.

By "yet another", I'm thinking about the renewal of the Patriot Act, the refusal to totally to abolish torture as a tool, contract renewals for Blackwater - oops, I mean Xe - and expanding both the military and private contractor base in Afghanistan...well, I guess the USA didn't really change anything with the 2008 presidential election.

A different smiling face, and a little less bluster. The actions remain depressingly consistent.

"The enormous gap between what US leaders do in the world and what Americans think their leaders are doing is one of the great propaganda accomplishments of the dominant political mythology." - Michael Parenti (political scientist, author)

Letters To Washington

A copy of a letter sent to Representative Ed Perlmutter, my congressional district representative, on 12/2/09:

Representative Perlmutter:

I urge you to help stop this madness of ever-escalating war and empire in Iraq and Afghanistan. How many more soldiers have to die before you and your Congressional colleagues begin to shut down these wars of occupation?

How many more soldier's families have to suffer the loss or injury of a loved one? How many more innocent civilians have to die in Afghanistan? How much more money has to be spent, lining the pockets of multi-million dollar private contractors as they build the infrastructure to house the US military for a long-term presence in the region?

How can a Democratic majority, elected in 2006 to both houses with a mandate to end the wars, continue to vote to expand them instead? How can our country absorb the incredible financial, physical and psychological costs that endless wars bring? How do you think we'll manage it - I'm interested in your view, since you have repeatedly voted to continue these wars.

And as soon as someone in the government can tell me how Al-Qaeda was responsible for the destruction of World Trade Center 7 on September 11, 2001 - well, then maybe the other flimsy rationales offered by the President for expanding the wars will make sense.

Stand up and be counted on the side of sanity and peace, Mr. Perlmutter. The President's twisting of words to explain this "surge" is as dumbfounding and insulting as any mangling of the language used by Mr. Bush. Do not blindly support the President because he is a Democrat.

There are resolutions before the House now to stop funding this war - H.R. 3699 from Representative Barbara Lee is one such measure and I hope you will co-sign and champion it. The House has the power to stop the killing - please use it!

If not, I'd like to know how you sleep at night, knowing you have a direct hand in meting out unnecessary death and destruction that will affect - and haunt - generations of Americans, Afghans and Iraqis.

Sheehan On The Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Cindy Sheehan offers her thoughts on the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Check it out here:http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Visions-from-Stckholm-Sw-by-Cindy-Sheehan-091010-460.html

Speaking out is something Sheehan has done consistently for years now. She's been derided by many on both the left and the right at various times, but I urge you to go hear her talk if she comes to your town. Her willingness to stand up for what she believes in and speak truth to power is inspiring.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize - For Giving Hope

2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner - can we get an interview with some people on the streets in Afghanistan and Iraq?

I thought I had time-slipped somehow back to April 1, or maybe a it's really a headline from the reknowned satirical paper The Onion: "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize." But here's the official statement from the Nobel organization:
http://nobelpeaceprize.org/en_GB/home/announce-2009/

Quoting from the statment: "Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population."

Obama has been given a major "peace" award for giving hope and his alleged diplomatic philosophy. Somewhere, George Orwell is smiling - a Norweigian committee's view of "peace" looks like an Afghan man's bombed-out home filled with dead relatives.

Memo to the Nobel Peace Prize committee:

1) The largest defense/war budget in American history was requested by the Obama Administration for fiscal 2009.

2) In June of this year, an additional $106 billion "supplemental" funding bill for the ongoing Iraq/Afghan occupation was passed by Congress at the Administration's request.

3) Debate is underway on adding more troops to the Afghanistan debacle - on top of the 21,000 additional troops that the Obama Administration has deployed this year.

This is hope? This reflects the values and attitudes shared by the majority of the people of the world? These are the actions of a man working towards a better future?

The Nobel site extols the President's "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." Really? Can you give me the details, I've forgotten - it's been a long nine months in office. Just who have we had these efforts with? Honduras? Iran?

"The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons." There's been some work, some actual reductions? So far, there has been some talk with the Russians and agreements to talk further. No actions.

Past Peace Prizes have gone to folks with questionable credentials (Henry Kissinger) before. But this one is being awarded before any concrete steps towards peace have even been taken - so far the "peace" effort is all campaign promises, all talk and no actions. In fact, Obama's military moves since taking office fly in the face of his talk.

Did the Nobel Peace committee buy "hope and change" election promises? It's okay if they did. But it's another thing altogether to sell them to the rest of the planet as some sort of "peace" philosophy worthy of international recognition. George Orwell would be proud.

USA Is Number One

The United States leads the planet in two arenas.

Coincidence?

For America, War Is Real Good Business

"Because the United States does not look like a militarized country, it's hard for Americans to grasp that Washington is a war capital, that the United States is a war state, that it garrisons much of the planet, and that the norm for us is to be at war somewhere at any moment."

"What does it mean when the most military-obsessed administration in our history (Bush II), which, year after year, submitted ever more bloated Pentagon budgets to Congress, is succeeded by one headed by a president who ran, at least partially, on an antiwar platform, and who has now submitted an even larger Pentagon budget?"

"If...weaponry is being endlessly developed for our safety and security, and that of our children and grandchildren, why is it that one of our most successful businesses involves the sale of the same weaponry to other countries? The U.S., with $37.8 billion in arms sales (up $12.4 billion from 2007), controlled 68.4% of the global arms market in 2008."

TomDispatch.com is a valuable web site, calling itself the "antidote to the mainstream media." Tom Englehardt's excellent article, "Is America Hooked On War?" is a question for which any clear-thinking citizen already knows the answer.

"Defense" spending makes up more than half of the annual federal budget every year, and weapons industries continue to make up a major segment of our economy. Yet this wholly anti-Christian and anti-humanity government program is never questioned by the media, our elected representatives, or by most citizens of the nation.

Indeed, if the American government's addictive attachment to weapons and death is ever questioned, a likely answer will have something to do with the treasonous act of second-guessing the defense of the nation. Defending the USA against...whom, exactly? And, as Mr. Englehardt points out, if we as a nation are so afraid of other countries, why do we sell more weapons to other countries than anyone on the planet?

Essential reading, sobering statistics, and a subject that anyone who professes Christian/humanitarian ideals must ponder. Thanks, Tom.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175115

The New Illiteracy Takes Over

"The US government is more than willing to invest billions in wars, lead the world in arms sales and give trillions in tax cuts to the ultra rich, but barely acknowledges the need to invest in those educational and civic institutions - from schools to the arts - that enable individuals to be border crossers, capable of connecting the private and the public as part of a more vibrant understanding of politics, identity, agency and governance." - Henry A. Giroux

Truthout has published a highly recommended article by Henry Giroux - "The Spectacle Of Illiteracy and the Crisis of Democracy" - which examines American anti-intellectualism, ever-growing civic illiteracy, and how both are undermining the democratic foundations of the USA.

The American education system devalues important skills such as the ability to question and critically think through issues. The result is a "chronic...and deadly civic illiteracy" that renders individuals unable to connect personal troubles to larger societal issues; the country has "moved from a culture of questioning to a culture of shouting, and in doing so (has) restaged politics and power in both unproductive and anti-democratic ways." The current health care reform "debate" is but the latest example.

Giroux places the timeline of this disintegration - the inability to connect the personal with the public - against the rise of the corporation and militarism as major influences in American life. As he writes, "How else to explain the rage against big government, but barely a peep against the rule of big corporations, which increasingly control not only the government, but almost every vital aspect of our lives from health care to the quality of our environment?" Military/weapons industries dominate our economy and authoritarian violence and blood defines our American culture, from movies/television to video games to sports.

The lesson: teach your children...to question. Before it's too late.

http://www.truthout.org/091509A

Honduran Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing

The old Minutemen punk-rock classic "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing" will have to be revised - here's a geo-political question to ask while the late Mr. Jackson is getting buried next week: what ever happened in that Honduras coup? Remember? The story that got buried in the USA when MJ conveniently died?

New articles in the last week take interesting views. The Associated Press issued a story on leftist/progressive leaders in Latin America going on heightened alert following the seemingly-successful ouster of the democratically elected Honduran president Manuel Zelaya. And the USA - the biggest military, trade and aid player in Latin America - is never mentioned. Hmmm....

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/19/ap/latinamerica/main5252359.shtml

And here is an opinion piece from The Guardian UK on the Honduran overthrow - and how the US government's relative inaction amounts to an approval of the military takeover. From the article:

" A clue...given by the (US) state department's Phillip Crowley, who explained that the coup should be a "lesson" to Zelaya for regarding revolutionary Venezuela as a model for the region."

So the Administration likes democracy as long as it's following the right guidelines - and if not, we'll take the generals supported by the rich men, thanks!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/12/honduras-coup-democracy-barack-obama

Given the very recent revelation (through declassified documents) of President Nixon working with the military dictators of Brazil to assist the overthrow of the elected Chilean government in 1972, and remembering the Iran-Contra scandal of the 1980s (which saw Honduras emerge as the pre-eminent US military home base in Latin America), the current Honduran situation should not be a surprise.

The King of Pop once sang that it doesn't matter if you're black or white. For the new Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing, let's change that to: doesn't matter if you're a Republican government or a Democratic one - when it comes to Latin America, Uncle Sam prefers ultra-conservative military regimes to wayward, progressive elected ones.

(See D. Boon and Minutemen perform "Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2-CgCyh5YM)

Letter to the Senators/Representative

Text of a letter I sent today to my Congressional representatives regarding health care reform. Phone calls are good, too.

SUBJECT: "Respect For Life"

Senator Udall/Bennett/Rep. Perlmutter:

The public "debate" concerning health care reform, the words of the president and the reporting by the media must baffle the rest of the planet. Most countries did the right thing for their citizens decades ago.

There is only one true health care reform bill on the Senate/House docket today: The American Health Security Act of 2009/H.R. 676. Let's cut out the insurance companies and offer every American basic health care. Let's set up a system modeled on the way civilized governments around the planet administer this public service.

I know that's a lot to ask of the Congress, whose values reflect some core American beliefs: creating an economic/military global empire is good, having the biggest and most weapons is good, selling weapons to others is good, and charging people to make a profit on their health issues is good.

Looks like the connecting thread there is "no respect for life."

The Congress and President Obama have an opportunity to craft, sell and implement a true reform that would speak to the much more Christian ideal of "love thy neighbor" and being a good "brother's keeper": government-run, non-profit health care for every American.

Just who do you and your colleagues work for? Millions of American citizens in favor of Medicare-for-all, or an insurance industry who contributes millions to political campaigns and lobbying? Who do you work for, Mr. Udall/Bennett/Perlmutter?

K. Dennis
Arvada, CO