"News that's not known, or not known enough."
Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
|
"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Warnings for progressives/liberals
US FOREIGN POLICY The author of (1) points out that it is crucial to understand and stop the “Divide and Conquer” tactics being used by the US government in order to build its US Empire of “stable” client regimes One tip-off is when the mainstream media is spouting the need for “greater autonomy” and “decentralization” related to some country. This is the start of a step-by-step process by Washington to finance and foment separatist movements and create leaders using ethnic, religious, or regional pretexts for their separatism. Another is whether the country being discussed is refusing to submit to US imperial domination. That is just the sort of country the US government will choose to “divide and conquer” Another tip-off is whether a particular separatism will facilitate the creation of a minority puppet regime that “works to counter neighboring countries opposed to the depredations of empire.” Another is whether the separatists are being backed “as potential terrorist shock troops in attacking strategic economic sectors and providing real or fabricated ‘intelligence’ as is the case in Iran among the Kurds and other ethnic minority groups.” Another tip-off is whether or not the US government has clients at the national level of a state they control or want to control. If they only have the ability to control territorially or ethnically concentrated groups, it is then that “the intelligence operatives resort to and promote ‘separatist’ movements.” At this point the mainstream media chimes in with their stories about “self-determination” for that group, and knowingly or unknowingly the “NGO’s jump on board, selectively attacking the [that] government’s effort to maintain a stable unified nation-state.” Also noted is that the “new states” themselves become places where those that have suddenly become “minority” groups are likely to be ethnically cleansed Then, pointed out is the fact that the US government is picky about the “self-determination” and “independence” it supports Finally, the author criticizes the “so-called progressives, leftists, or self-described anti-imperialists” saying that they rarely ask this question: for progressives shouldn’t “the over-riding issue [be] defeating the ... killing machine called US imperialism ... AND advancing “the power and control of the majority of workers and peasants over the means of production?” His conclusion indicates that if the answer is YES, then not all independence movements can be considered legitimate and that progressives and libertarians had better look beyond their abstract concepts to what will be/is actually happening on the ground. THE US ELECTIONS The author of (2) calls on liberals and real progressives to stand up, ask the important questions, and face facts. One fact is that Americans have been deceived by the Israelis who did not reveal that they have 150-300 nuclear weapons. Another fact is the speech that Obama gave at the AIPAC conference. The author was NOT impressed since Obama went back on prior statements he’d made and expressed views much like those of McCain. He pointed out that NEITHER showed concern for the Palestinians who are ACTUALLY being asked to give up “the right of return or compensation to Palestinian lands usurped by the Jewish State and to give up reparations for the land, businesses, [and] property taken by Israel since 1946.” Also, BOTH supported “regime change” in Iran which the author said is ”a catchword for overthrowing their government and putting in American puppets that will sell their resources for pennies on the dollar.” He also noted that the candidates, especially Obama, SHOULD be talking about OVERTURNING the laws that are taking away our rights and ENDING “extraordinary rendition” flights (taking suspects to countries where they can be tortured), presidential signing statements, the “unitary executive,” and government for the sake of the military-industrial-corporate-complex. He concludes by saying that liberals/progressives must decide: “Do we want never-ending war and saber-rattling as the defense industries make huge profits, or do we want a return to peace and a chance to rebuild America for our children?“ His answer is: “I am an American that does not want to conquer or control the world for the sake of greed.”
Because we respect peoples' privacy, we do not keep records of friends' and contributors' contact information. This means we can't forward private communications between readers and writers, but we always welcome dialogue for publication. When we publish incoming emails, we usually edit out the sender's last name, email address, or anything else that would tend to uniquely identify the author (if we slip up, please let us know). But if your email is unambiguously intended only to annoy, insult, or threaten us, we'll publish all the details, and leave it on-line forever. We're especially interested in hearing and considering different perspectives. All we ask is that you conduct yourself sanely and civilly. For the most productive dialogue, it helps if you'll cite a specific article or concept we've gotten wrong. You can contact Helen & Harry at <newsuneed at yahoo.com>. If that address ever fails, our back-up email address is <unknownnews at inbox.com>. But please, don't email us unless you're really and truly, honestly, actually trying to send the publishers of News a communication you're not sending to anyone or everyone else. Please don't send attachments or other cr*p we don't want. If you're trying to reach us but getting no reply, it's probably because you've sent us cr*p we don't want, so we're filtering your emails into the trash, unopened and unread. If you'd like to have your email address unblocked, simply send a sincere apology (from an un-blocked email address).
|
|
