Monthly Archives: September 2013

Eric Margolis: Obama, Don’t Play Chess With KGB

"Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize should be rescinded and given, instead, to Vladimir Putin. Add a warning to Obama’s amateur foreign policy advisors: 'don’t play chess with the KGB!' In fact, Obama, who rudely snubbed former KGB agent Putin recently, owes Russia’s leader a 'Bolshi Spaseba' (big thanks) for pulling his bacon out of the fire in Syria. Putin brilliantly demonstrated to the world the difference between diplomacy and force, the rapier versus the cudgel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Obama, Don’t Play Chess With KGB

Musty Idea: War To Maintain “Credibility” As A Global Hegemon

"In the most recent episode of U.S. war hysteria, the media was filled with endless remarks on how Syria had to be attacked to maintain U.S. 'credibility'. These individuals, and many others just like them, care not a whit about the lessons of history. Ronald Reagan sang the same interventionist tune while he was President. Even after 241 U.S. Marines were killed in the Beirut barracks bombing, he kept up the 'credibility' rhetoric. The warring classes know that the American public has a short memory. Few will recall what happened in Lebanon and the 'credibility' garbage that was tossed around back then." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMusty Idea: War To Maintain “Credibility” As A Global Hegemon

Fmr. Pres. Candidate Michael Badnarik Weighs in on Rush to War w/ Syria

"John Kerry and John McCain would have been on opposite sides of a war debate 40 years ago. Today, they stand together with the president supporting a military strike on Syria. Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky took the Secretary of State to task for his viewpoints on the future of Syria. This was just a few days after former Democratic lawmaker Dennis Kucinich said President Obama may face impeachment if he attacks Syria without Congressional authorization. Matt Drudge, normally a well-known conservative, tweeted that there is no difference between the parties. The publisher of the Drudge Report stated that politics is now 'Authoritarian vs. Libertarian.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFmr. Pres. Candidate Michael Badnarik Weighs in on Rush to War w/ Syria

Report: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users

"This revelation adds to the growing list of ways that the NSA is believed to snoop on ostensibly private online conversations. In what appears to be a slide taken from an NSA presentation that also contains some GCHQ slides, the agency describes 'how the attack was done' on 'target' Google users. NSA employees log into an internet router—most likely one used by an internet service provider or a backbone network. (It's not clear whether this was done with the permission or knowledge of the router's owner.) Once logged in, the NSA redirects the 'target traffic' to an 'MITM,' a site that acts as a stealthy intermediary, harvesting communications before forwarding them to their intended destination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: NSA Mimics Google to Monitor “Target” Web Users

Health Care Law’s Achilles Heel? A Growing Legal Morass

There are a number of well-kept secrets about the health care law, but I think the increasing legal morass has become the most important. “Morass” is a negative word: A growing number of citizens, businesses, and the state of Oklahoma have turned to the court system to seek relief. This means Americans are – or […]

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It’s official. America’s Suez moment has arrived

"Britain had once been the dominant power in the world. But years of unsustainable finances and economic decline changed all of that. By the end of World War II, Britain was nearly bankrupt. But reality hadn’t set in yet. They still saw themselves as a superpower. British policymakers were still at the peace table. They helped set up the UN, divide up Germany, and even influence the new global financial system at Bretton Woods. Reality finally hit during the Suez Crisis. It became clear that the UK no longer had the economic fortitude or international standing to do as it pleased. And with the US opposed to the invasion of Egypt, the British government had no choice but to withdraw." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIt’s official. America’s Suez moment has arrived

Can America Win A War In Syria?

"In 2006, Israel was powerless to impose its rules of warfare on Hezbollah. Israel’s model of victory was expelling Hezbollah, but Hezbollah’s model of victory was simply surviving; their victory they achieved to Israel’s shame. In 2013, America risks being put in Israel’s pre-conflict position, except for one great difference. Assad is the Syrian state. He is not a shadowy nation in a host state, like Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, like the Summer War of 2006, America is in no position to accomplish the objective of stopping Assad’s use of chemical weapons on all three levels of military campaign planning: the (1) Tactical, (2) Operational, and (3) Strategic levels." Continue reading →

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Chauvinists and Other Anti-Peace Voices

"We cannot even take a baby step toward peace without these neocon warmongers trying to shove us back into the 'Fight the dirty un-American commie bastards' mode of thinking. What a bunch of chauvinists (jingoists, nationalists) these guys are. The most amazing of all reactions comes from the Syrian rebel coalition. They 'announce our definitive rejection of the Russian initiative to place chemical weapons under international custody.' I find this amusing. The group that Kerry-Obama supports with arms and military training, the group that Obama-Kerry were willing to bomb for in the name of curtailing chemicals in warfare, that group rejects a huge Syrian government concession to give up its chemicals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChauvinists and Other Anti-Peace Voices