Posts by James Bremner
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RB,
"Everyone hates Congress" - Time Magazine
Apparently, like me, now Time Magazine is spouting Republican talking points. Must be contagious I guess.
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1640263,00.html
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Kyle,
Japan wasn't so hot before 1945, a relatively backward more or less feudal society. 50 years later it was the second wealthiest country in the world, and a stable democracy. A bloody amazing performance. Full credit to the Japs, but they didn't do it all by themselves.Re Germany, compare West Germany with East Germany in 1989. I think Germany was the 3rd largest economy in the world and East Germany was a basket case.
Mores the pity that the Yanks pulled the plug on South Vietnam in 1974. With US military and economic aid SV had stood on their own two feet for a couple of years, but with no US support while the NVA had Soviet and Chinese aid, the fall of SV was inevitable. As were the "reeducation camps" and boat people etc that followed the NVA victory. If the US had continued to support the SVA, South Vietnam would probably be something like South Korea now, with North Vietnam being like it is today, closer to North Korea than South Korea. It is good that Vietnam is heading in the right direction these days.
I don't understand your point about Panama. The Yanks kicked out Noriega who is now sitting in a US jail. I had several friends at grad school who were from Panama, I have been to Panama 3 times since 1993 and I have never picked up much anti-American feeling. My friends hated Noriega and were pleased that the Yanks booted him out; they thought he was just a cheap little thug. Panama is a stable and relatively prosperous country; the Panamanians are in charge of their canal. The worst thing I can think of that Panama has to deal with is a lot of drug money in their banking system from Colombia, but it hasn’t seemed to impact Panama’s stability too badly (and drug money is only indirectly and partially the US' fault)
What’s your beef about Panama?
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Michael,
Yes, the US is a fine country in many respects, and unfortunately in some respects it is not a fine country. But I think it is both fair and accurate to say the that the good outweighs the bad by a pretty significant margin.
Be interesting to see what happens after the next election, as whoever wins the presidency will not be a rough spoken, Bible belt Christian ex oil-man, which seems to create a lot of suspicion regarding the motives and actions of the incumbent.
I am not sure there will be the sea change in US policy for which many people are looking, whoever wins. For example, Hillary has said she would leave troops in Iraq to perform certain tasks that are estimated to require 75,000 troops in Iraq for years. Be interesting to see how people react to that, if it happens.
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I'm not sure who I dislike most James, the guy blowing up a bus, or those, like yourself, sitting in a nation evoking god whilst your bombs and proxies do your work. I guess I think you’re both just as culpable...the end result is little different.
So let me see, let’s think about countries where the US either imposed its will or stayed around long enough to significantly influence the society. Japan, Germany, South Korea spring to mind, and are three of the most successful countries in the world over the last 60 years since the US began its involvement.
You could say the US is major contributor to China's extraordinary growth and development of the last 20 years by buying so much of what China manufactures, and the fact that the Chinese are adopting so many US methods and ways of doing business.
And let's think of the societies or countries where various organizations that use suicide bombers run, or ran the show. Let's think about Afghanistan under the Taliban, the West Bank and Gaza under Arafat, and now Gaza under Hamas. Iran under the Mullahs. You could add Saudi Arabia to the list as well, as it is the home of Wahhabism. Most people would think of these countries as pretty miserable places to live.
And you are telling me that the "end result is little different"? So you would be just as happy living in Afghanistan under the Taliban as you would be living in Germany Japan or South Korea? Really?
Simon, I can't get into your head, so I don't know how you came to this view of the world, but it is about as twisted as a pretzel.
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Ahh, moral relativism. A certain species of modern right-winger delights in using this as a pejorative, but they do not seem to know what it means. Apparently, thinking rape, torture, and murder is wrong makes me an evil moral relativist, while thinking it's OK if an American does it makes one a moral absolutist of impeccable standing.
Rape, torture and murder is wrong whoever does it. But berating the US Army for the activities of a handful of its soldiers, clearly an exception and not the rule, or for accidently killing civilians while trying to kill terrorists that are trying to destroy any hope of a decent society, while at the same time making excuses for terrorists and head hackers (root causes!!, Iraq!! blah blah) whose very objective is to kill as many innocents as possible is not okay. In fact it is a lot less that not okay. It is absolutely idiotic f*#ing bullshit. But it is a disease currently of plague proportions.
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Rendition.
I believe the rendition program was started under the Clinton, and Richard Clark was either involved in its set up or was a strong supporter. So whether it is right or wrong, the rendition program predates Bush. Has it ramped up since 9/11? I am sure it has.I forget who it was who said it, but “the constitution is not a suicide pact”. A very sensible sentiment that covers issues like rendition and robust interrogation quite well.
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Now we even have articles in such non neo-con publications as the NZ Herald that highlight the central role of Islam in Islamic terrorism:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10450086
As far as the role of Iraq in the London and Glasgow bombings, the guy who was on fire at Glasgow was chanting "Allah, Allah!!" as he was trying to get into the back of the Jeep. He wasn't chanting "Bush and Blair out of Iraq!!".
You may also recall that Islamic terrorists were blowing up buildings, trying to sink ships and flying planes into buildings well before Dubya went into Iraq.
But does Iraq have a role as a motivator or a priority for Al Qaeda? Of course it does. Bin Laden and Zawaheri have stated numerous times that Iraq is the central front in the war on the west. It has to be, how could Al Qaeda have any credibility with its supporters if it allows the Great Satan to simply come to the heart of the Islamic world, plonk itself down and create a western leaning, democratic state, the anthesis of everything for which Al Qaeda stands? For heaven’s sake, such a state might even grant woman some rights so they don't have the legal status of a chattel as they do under Islamic law!! The stuff of nightmares for Osama and Ayman!!
So according to Bin Laden's view of the world, if the US does bug out of Iraq, as the Dems and many others so fervently wish, it would be a huge victory for Al Qaeda. Doesn't sound like a good way to defeat Al Qaeda to me.
As for Abu Ghraib, yes, bad stuff did happen there, but not in proportion to the fuss and stink that was created over it. Yes, Abu Ghraib is a stain on the US and the US Army. Is it representative of the US and the US Army? No, not even close. The US Army in Iraq is probably the most disciplined in the history of warfare. For example, until Jan 07 they were even tied up in overly cautious rules of engagement that were so strict it greatly impacted their ability to do their job. Abu Ghraib was being investigated before it got into the media and people are in jail as a result. Was every aspect uncovered and is everyone who should be in jail, in jail? Who knows, but the whole thing has been dug over a number of times.
Was there any comparison between the Hussein regime's activities in Abu Ghraib and the US Army's? No, but Kennedy's ridiculous and offensive remark about Abu Ghraib opening under new ownership was typical of the hyperbole and overreaction on the subject by so many.
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Tim,
According to Wikipeadia, which ought to be a reasonable enough source on this subject, one person died at Abu Ghraib during the period when Garner, Lindy England etc were doing their stuff, so I do stand corrected on that point. But from all the noise and fuss you would have thought that half of Baghdad had been slaughtered.Most of screeching about Abu Ghraib was about the photos of prisoners with paper bags over their heads, Lyndie England pointing at a prisoner's wiener, letting dogs bark at prisoners, naked pyramids etc. Most of it was pretty juvenile stuff which looked like a Palmerston North Boys High School prefect's initiation ceremony, more than anything else.
Pretty lame stuff compared with Hussein's favorite tricks, including feeding people into industrial plastic shredding machines in front of their families, feet first and stopping when the machine got to the person's thighs, so the family could hear the person scream and hear them suffer for a longer time, before feeding the rest of them through the machine. Nice for the families to come out of the execution with their clothes covered in the blood of their relative.
Dunking people into a bath of concentrated acid was another favorite party trick, in front of their family too.
And Ted Kennedy, the Admiral of Chappaquiddick would have us believe that Abu Ghraib had simply reopened under new management. What a ridiculous load of crap.
Before the story was broken, the Army had identified the problem and an investigation was under way and the press had actually been briefed on the subject.
Garner is now doing a 10 year stretch and England is inside for 3, if I recall correctly, and some others are doing time as well.
All this is not to say that other captives haven’t been mistreated and died in US custody, but the reality is that Abu Ghraib wasn't nearly as bad as it was made out to be and the Army was on top of it anyway, so pardon me for downplaying the Abu Ghraib "scandal", but I think that perspective is justified.
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Michael F,
Article by Irshad Manji, who as I think you noted, it one hell of a brave and intelligent woman.
Irshad Manji: Religion is the root cause of terrorist threat
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,22018577-7583,00.html
If Islam has nothing to do with Islamic terrorism, then why are many muslim terrorists reported to cry "Alluh Akbar" ar "Allah" as they carry out their act of terrorism?
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Cuba's human rights record is not good, but in the post Bush era the USA's is far worse,
Honestly Simon, with a load of bollocks, how is it possible for someone to believe such utter crap?
Are Cubans free to speak their minds, form political parties, leave Cuba, abuse the President and government at the top of their voices and generally do any of the things we associate with freedom and that we take for granted? No they are not, they can't do any of those things, each and every Cuban (except Fidel and the handful that are "more equal' than everyone else) are trapped in the equivalent of an open air prison.
What is next Simon, Mugabe is just a misunderstood luvie and Zimbabwe is really a cool place to live?
RE Presidential Pardon Powers
There Presidential pardon powers are absolute, he can pardon anyone for any reason and there is no review oversight or appeal etc. I am not saying it is a good thing or a bad thing, it is just the way that this is the way it is. Right or wrong, Bush was completely within his powers to commute Libby's sentence, as Clinton was within his powers to pardon Marc Rich.RB,
You are correct that the last Repub congress sucked, and as a result they got the bums rush. But rather than being better, the new Dem congress started digging where the Repubs left off, and haven't stopped. I think that after 12 years in Congress, Repubs record for earmarks in a bill was 13,000. After 6 months in office the Dems have gotten to 32,000.There are some Senators and Congressmen on both sides who are trying to fight pork, the most determined seems to be Tom Coburn in the Senate, from Oklahoma. He and Obama co-sponsored a bill to put all earmarks on line, which is just exactly what is needed. I think it is being blocked at this stage, but hopefully eventually it will make it into law. Putting all bills on line before they are voted on would be a great step too.
I love the States, but some aspects of politics over here are just squalid, like corruption and earmarks etc. NZ can certainly hold it head high in this regard, long may it continue.
But when it comes to corruption, the Duke Cunningham’s of this world are the amateurs and the Dems like New Orleans own Dollar Bill Jefferson are the pros. When he was indicted, his family was described as being like a criminal enterprise and another comment was that it was surprising that he had any time to be in Congress as he worked so long and hard on his rackets.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19031423/
Syria
And yes, it was a disgrace that the Repub congressmen visited with Assad as well as Nancypants, but Nancypants is 3rd in line to the Presidency, so her visit carries a lot more clout and significance, and is therefore much worse. Also the Speaker does not have a role in foreign policy, which is the purview of the Executive branch, so she was stepping outside the bounds of the role of Speaker. Any act that gives someone like Assad respect and a boost is a very bad thing.