...Clearly should Kosovo be allowed to declare independence Moscow will use that as a pretext to push ahead with overt support for separatist regions in the former Soviet republics in which it has interests (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno Karabakh and Transdnistra). Just yesterday Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov stated in an interview, regarding the Georgian separatist regions: It is hard to say how events will develop. But much will depend on how the West behaves on the question of recognizing Kosovo. However a growing alliance between Russia and Serbia, which would most probably be enhanced by Serbian nationalists being in power, whod welcome a powerful backer against NATO-supported Kosovar separatists, could entail an attempt to prevent the Kosovo secession, seemingly in opposition to Moscow desire for said pretext. On the other hand this would in turn bar the way for Serbia to join NATO, a desirable outcome for the Russians. Both Clinton's "Dayton Accord" that served Bosnian Muslims and Croat Fascists, and the NATO/Wesley Clark intervention that followed, are the worst follies ever brokered by a US President. As the Jihadi entities of Kosovo and Bosnia complete the ethnic cleansing of the last remnants of Roman and Orthodox culture, Clinton's commitments from Hell force US troops to guard the destroyers of cultures older than America, in support of the remnants of Ottoman savagery. Would not Russia and Serbia be better allies of America than Pakistan and Saudi Arabia? I think so.
So whats the game plan here for Moscow? If the Serbian referendum that described Kosovo as part of Serbia must be taken into consideration, as Sliska insists above, are the Russians in turn going to take into account a Georgian referendum on Abkhazia and South Ossetia? An Azeri referendum on Nagorno Karabakh? Obviously neither would go in their favour, so no. Perhaps their actions will depend on the success of their general strategy to bring former USSR republics back under their control by buying up their state assets and using energy blackmail in the near future (as is currently being done with Belarus, the Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia) and for now they are just playing for time. On the other hand, how far are they willing to go in supporting Serbian nationalists, should hostilities break out over Kosovo or even Republika Srpska? And is Serbia undergoing a re-re-alignment, again looking eastward, realising that 2007 will be the year of an ascendant Russia, declining EU (following the addition of Bulgaria and Romania, invalidating French and German domination), a NATO transfixed on Afghanistan and a US (still) tied up in Iraq?... In case there is any doubt, it is my belief that our respect for independence and the democratic wishes of brainwashed peoples, must be secondary to our general security interests. Jihad power must be put down on ALL fronts.
#5
Serbia is less trustworthy than Russia, as far as I can see, and Russia can be trusted only to choose the Great Game over wisdom almost always. I am not comfortable with any of them -- Serb, Croat, Muslim -- too many dream too much of taking revenge for the last round of stupidity. For generations those who desire only to live in peace have emigrated to places where that is possible.
#6
Regarding the Balkans, the Serbs were right. I just hope in the future we'll have the sense to help the Serbs liquidate Muslims, instead of stupidly stopping them.
I dunno what Russia's up to, and I don't care, as long as they're not helping "the Ummah".
#7
SCO > RUSSIA-CHINA to strengthen SECURITY-ENERGY-ECON DEALS wid CENTRAL ASIAN STATES. SCO TO DOMIN CENTRAL + EAST ASIA. USA NOT INVITED. Russia-China demand USA-France set timelines for withdrawal of military forces from CENASIAN bases. Article - GREAT GAME stays the SAME, ONLY THE MAJOR PLAYERS IS DIFFERENT. FREEREPUBLIC.com > STILETTO.com > CHRISTIANS TO BECOME EXTINCT IN HOLY LAND WITHIN 60 YEARS. No longer leave for mainly economic reasons, now leave region to SAVE OWN LIVES from local Muslims. PRO-CHINA MIL
BLOGGER > ASYMMETRIC WARFARE = US ARMY CAN'T USE ITS TANKS TO WIN WARS IFF RUSSIA-SCO WON'T SELL AMERICA ANY GAS. NO GAS/FUEL = NO POLS FOR ARMIES OR INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION = NO MOBILITY = ARMY BOGGED DOWN IN STATIC, LOCAL WARS AND BATTLES WHERE OUTNUMBERED = OUTGUNNED BY ENEMIES. US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS + MISSLES USELESS IFF NO FUEL FOR PLANES OR MISSLE ENGINES. USDOD-ARMY HAS TO WALK = SWIM TO GET ANYWHERE.
#3
This is really an excellent analysis of how and why so many rank and file leftists cling to outmoded and destructive beliefs: their worldview, which they associate with the glory of their youth, would collapse if those beliefs were abandoned. For true believers, the 60s paradigm cannot be altered to fit circumstances, it is dogma, untouchable. Instead, circumstances are altered to fit the paradigm. The pop-culture left is acting out a script and their motives are profoundly personal. It is unfortunate that their actions impact the real world, where terrorists and other savage enemies take heart from their influence and real people die because of moth-eaten fantasies.
For more on the relationship between leftist politics and the 60s counterculture, see Thomas M. Frank's landmark cultural history, The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism. This is a damning indictment of the media-industrial complex. Frank's status as a major liberal only enhances the credibility of this particular message. That message, supported by some remarkable documentation, is that the 60s Counteculture was largely an invention of the advertising industry, not an authentic social movement. He also documents the crucial role of radical political memes in the 60s Counterculture, and maintains that the Counterculture remains the chief influence on the internal culture of the mass media to this day.
In short, the left as we know it today is little more than an advertising gimmick run amok.
The confluence of forces that brought about a very large cohort of people with this poisonous meme set will hopefully not be duplicated again. The class of '68 is a disease, a particularly virulent episode of the herpetic infection of leftism on the "body" of the West initiated with the French revolution.
The conditions - economic, technological, and demographic - that made this curse possible were unique in human history. Although there will likely always be some small percentage of folks that think and act like this, the impending death of this unusually large group of cognitively challenged robots over the next 25 or so years should reduce those numbers to a manageable level.
Funny part is, most of them think they're going to live forever. "Crown of creation"? I think not.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
11/15/2006 17:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Sen Carl Levin (D-MI) comment before the 3 automakers met with President Bush last week was: We're going to speak truth to power. The old fool Levin is trapped in the 60's with the rest of the dummies.
#7
I am a "class of 65" guy. High school. Joined the USMC in 66' and came back to a different world in 1970. I have often felt that only after the last of this generation dies will things have a better chance of getting on track. Not everybody was a Hippie. But they won the leadership in academia and professions and the media. Now they have the House and Senate. We will all be better off when the "Bull Conner" and "Black Panther" types have all died off in terms of race-relations. I wonder if the country has to wait till the Communist/Socialists and Cold Warriors like me are dead and gone before we can start anew. I hope not.
#8
OH HOW LEFT HAS CHANGED? > LE REPUBLIQUE NEWS > NEPALESE MAOISTS proclaim VICTORY IN REVOLUTION > while proclaiming to resist Amer + Euro/West + Capitalist Imperialism, ALSO PROCLAIM MUCH IDEO DISAGREEMENT WID INTERNATIONAL LEFTISTS OVER UTILITY + INFLUENCE OF CAPITALISM-CONSUMERISM IN MARXIST SOCIALIST SOCIETIES-GOVTS. *IOW, CLINTONS > FASCISM = SSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH, CCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCC the NEW COMMUNISM > you know, the Billarian and US DemoLeft rant against hated despicable FASCISM/ULTRA + FAR RIGHT!? NEPALESE MAOISTS = COMMIES WANT US-WESTERN CAPITALISM + CONSUMERISM, in addition to SOCIALISM/GUBMINT-ISM.
The latest report on Iran from the International Atomic Energy Agency, circulated to diplomats in Vienna on Tuesday, shows once again that Iran has failed to comply with the demands of the international community, as expressed by the United Nations Security Council.
The IAEA report documented that Iran was continuing to enrich uranium on a large-scale in defiance of UN Security Council resolution 1696. It also said that IAEA inspectors had found stashes of highly-enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium hidden at an Iranian nuclear waste site.
Both materials are directly useful in building atomic weapons but cannot be used in Irans declared nuclear power program. (Download a PDF file of the complete report here).
UN Security Council resolution 1696, passed on July 31, gave Iran until the end of last August to suspend all enrichment and reprocessing-related activities in a verifiable manner. If Iran complied, the resolution opened the possibility of economic aid and technology assistance. But if Iran failed to comply, it called for economic and diplomatic sanctions.
Nearly three months have passed since that deadline. Instead of complying, Irans leaders have chosen open defiance bolstered in no small way by the support they have received from Russia, China, and IAEA Secretary General Mohammad ElBaradei, whose rosy pronouncements of Peace in Our Time would be comic if the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran were not so real.
According to sources and contacts as well as statements made in Lebanon over the past few weeks all analysis indicates that Hezbollah is on the verge of an all out offensive in Lebanon to crumble the "March 14" Seniora Government and to seize strategic control in the country.
Following are few points deserving attention:
1. As predicted since July 12, (and posted on the Counterterrorism Blog), the aim of Hezbollah's summer war with Israel, was to provoke a "strike-back" at the Lebanese Government and reshape the balance of power in Lebanon to the advantage of the Teheran-Damascus axis. Nasrallah and his allies across the sectarian divide aimed at shifting the issue of disarming Hezbollah and militias (according to UNSCR 1559) to crumbling the government, which is supposed to implement this disarming process.
2. By mid-October, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies had begun a political counter offensive aiming at "enlarging" the Seniora cabinet, as a way to paralyzing it further from the inside. The political discussions took longer than anticipated by Hezbollah. Hence, a decision was made in Tehran (and subsequently in Damascus ) to move forward.
3. The perceived results of the midterm elections in the US were read as positive by Tehran and its allies, in the sense that it froze vigorous reactions by the US against any Iranian-Syrian move in Lebanon via Hezbollah. The feelings in Tehran and Damascus, have been that if in the next weeks and months a "thrust" takes place in Lebanon to the advantage of the pro-Syrian camp, Washington will be in no position to react or counter. Ahmedinijad and Assad believe (or have been advised to believe) that "lobbies" are moving in Washington and Brussels to restrain any strong deterrence by the US against the "axis." The theory is that the Bush Administration is too busy "negotiating" with the new leadership in Congress to "dare" a mass move in the Middle East. The analysis also predicts that strong lobbies within the Democratic Party are now positioned to block any serious response to a change in geopolitics in Lebanon. It is believed that the window of opportunity won't be too long before the Administration and the upcoming Congress "understands" the Tehran-Damascus maneuver and create a unified response. Thus, the expectation is that Hezbollah and its allies were told to achieve their goals before the end of the year, and before the new Congress begin business on the Hill.
4. Hezbollah has mobilized its forces from all over the country to position them in the capital and eventually use them in moves in Beirut, the central and southern part of Mount Lebanon, where most government institutions are located. Nasrallah can also bring into "battle" the supporters of General Michel Aoun, the Syrian National-Socialists, the Baathists, and the pro-Syrian Sunni militias, the Islamic Fundamentalists paid by Syria, the Palestinian radicals and the security agencies still under the influence of Syria. This "huge" army can technically defeat the thin internal security forces of the government. The Lebanese Army is an unknown factor, with Hezbollah supporters in control of the military regions in the south, the Bekaa, southern suburbs and other positions. In short, the "axis army" is ready to engage in battle in Lebanon. The issue is when, how, and with what outcome.
5. The projected scenario is as follows: Hezbollah and Amal movement ministers will resign from the Government calling for the resignation of the Government. Check.
The next move is to have Hezbollah, Amal, and their allies in the Parliament also resign, thus creating "conditions" for what they will coin as new elections and a collapse of the cabinet. Most of these moves have already been accomplished or are on the eve of being implemented. The pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud will declare the Government and the Parliament as "illegitimate," and call for early legislative elections. The latter, if they take place will be under the smashing influence of Hezbollah's weapons (a show of force was performed in the summer) and of the cohorts of militias and security agencies. Result: a pro-Syrian-Iranian majority in parliament, followed by the formation of an "axis" government in Lebanon. The rest is easy to predict: A terrorism victory.
The question today is, how to stop this from happening? While it is very late in the process, the United States must respond in a strong bipartisan way, the Security Council should move immediately to chapter 7, and the Cedars Revolution to take the streets again. Short of these developments, the worse is to be feared on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean soon.
This commentary first appeared in the World Defense Review on November 13, 2006.
Dr. Walid Phares is Senior Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and author of Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America (Palgrave/St. Martin, 2005). He is also a Professor of Middle East Studies at Florida Atlantic University.
#1
The Lebanon campaign of 2006 will be remembered as a failure. A failure on Israel's part to crush Hizballah. A failure on our part to widen the battle to Syria and Iran. A failure on the part of the UN to enforce its resolutions. And finally a failure on the part of Middle East Moslems to clean up their act and support a fledgling democratic movement against tyrants.
The consequences of these failures are developing. The ultimate consequence will be more violent death of innocents. Millions if not tens of millions of us.
Sorry, Kalle, but I'm tired of this. I've been countering it all morning for what it is - nothing. Same old shit, day in, day out. Lots of fears projected and direness declared. Personal agendas and schedules unmet declared as failure. Yet we're still here. Israel's still there. Go figure, huh?
My hands are wrung, my ankles bitten, my patience exhausted.
Say Doom!
You Doom & Gloom guys carry on. What will happen will happen. I'm worn out. Fugg it.
#4
Not doom and gloom. Just trying to be a realist and ready for future events. I see this as one campaign in a long war. It does mean that the next time Israel is attacked from Lebanon, the toll will be heavier and the outcome won't be clear-cut. Especially if Iran is allowed to continue is WMD programs. Which is the case.
I don't have a realistic SOLUTION. I don't see NOW how we can continue to wage war on State Sponsors of terrorism. What I do see is a lack of Western political will to wage or win that war, while Moslems feel they have the wind in the sail. We have the military might but not the political will, in large part because our social and intellectual foundations have been thoroughly undermined for the past 50 years.
9/11 woke America -- but in what respect? Is it doom and gloom to opine that as of late 2006 we --the Western world-- have not strengthened the will and initiative to wage this war? and to wonder what it will take? I'll believe we didn't hit the snooze button if Iran gets hit (by the USA, not Israel) in the next 6-12 months. And even that wouldn't be enough. Are we going to drill our own oil and build up nuclear power plants, or keep sending money to Moslem tyrants?
#5
and since the War won't be over by 2008 -- what kind of President will rise to the occasion and lead the country? I see a lot of potential candidates focusing on anything but that issue. That would my most immediate solution -- finding and encouraging the right candidates -- no matter what GWB achieves with the Democrats, or what he doesn't.
#6
what was it that made the country choose Carter after Democrats forced the abandonment of Vietnam? what does it take to prevent something similar from happening again?
#7
In the war, Israel flattened the three major Hezbollah centers, including South Beirut. Hezbollah claims to have passed out $300 million in repair funds. The terrorists have also resupplied missiles to the front lines. This happens as the UN monitors cross border surveillance by the IAF. Israel has no alternative but to attack terror at its source: Iran. And they won't be alone. Carrier task forces are sitting in the Indian Ocean, waiting for orders.
#1
Interesting concept. Instead of a superpower "balance of power" between the US and China in like 50 years, what if you had a superpower duopoly of two Christian, capitalist nations?
#2
The powers that be in China are still terrified of the return of the Taiping, which is why they are deeply suspicious of Christianity.
For those who don't know, the Taiping rebellion was perhaps the second bloodiest conflict ever after WWII. Its leader, Hong Xiuquan, thought he was Jesus come again.
They don't mention the Taiping rebellion a whole lot in the US, as there is some considerable consternation about Protestant missionaries giving a religious tract to definitely the wrong guy.
#3
A: The powers that be in China are still terrified of the return of the Taiping, which is why they are deeply suspicious of Christianity.
For those who don't know, the Taiping rebellion was perhaps the second bloodiest conflict ever after WWII. Its leader, Hong Xiuquan, thought he was Jesus come again.
They don't mention the Taiping rebellion a whole lot in the US, as there is some considerable consternation about Protestant missionaries giving a religious tract to definitely the wrong guy.
Other religiously-inspired rebellions have been equally bloody, on a pro rata basis. Since the formation of a unitary Chinese state 2000-odd years ago, Chinese governments have always been suspicious of non-governmental organizations. Time and time again, they have been justified in their fears, as major insurrections have repeatedly sprung up based on the efforts of members of these organizations.
We didn't have a Home Front Total Fucking Stupidity category, so I put it here... The Big Tent is going up and the various Ringmasters are lining up, testing their bullwhips. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Automakers and manufacturers, beware: There's a new environmental policy boss in town, she scowls a lot, and two of her favorite phrases are "global warming" and "extensive hearings."
The Democrats' coming takeover of Congress is expected to feel pressure for policy change on a number of fronts, from Iraq to taxes, but the starkest change may come at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, when Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., will surrender the gavel to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Her appointment was announced Tuesday, but won't take effect until January.
Inhofe rejects a wide scientific consensus that human use of fossil fuels is largely responsible for catastrophic climate change, calling it "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people." He's accused environmental activists of exploiting people's fears to raise money. And he's blocked legislation aimed at curbing global warming.
Boxer, in contrast, is a fiercely liberal environmental activist. She has railed against Inhofe, crusaded for cleaner drinking water and led wilderness protection efforts in her home state and for Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Her likely counterparts in the House of Representatives - Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., incoming chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., of the Resources Committee - are less sympathetic to environmentalists. Dingell's constituents include the auto industry, and Rahall's include the coal industry. Then too, of course, George W. Bush remains president, and he's not exactly a global-warming crusader, either.
But Boxer said Tuesday that starting in January, her priority will be to begin "a very long process of extensive hearings" on global warming.
"I think there ought to be a global-warming bill that looks at all the contributors to carbon-dioxide emissions," she said. She cited California's legislation requiring automakers to reduce emissions as "an excellent role model."
Boxer also wants to boost the cleanup of Superfund toxic-waste sites by reinstating "polluter pays" fines, which lapsed under the Bush administration, and increase oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Inhofe couldn't be reached for comment; Boxer said he'd called to wish her well.
Melinda Pierce, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, cheered the coming change, saying Inhofe had been bad for the environment and that Boxer is an activist hero. But with a bare 51-49 Democrat majority in the next Senate and Bush in the White House, Pierce said, "We have no illusions that there's going to be some comprehensive global-warming bill signed by the president." Instead, she said, Boxer will likely "set an agenda and make modest gains for a time in 2009 when we have a new president."
Hank Cox of the National Association of Manufacturers said his group "will certainly have our door open," although he said Boxer "does represent a tougher stand on environmental issues than we've had in the past, and we can potentially see where there's going to be more vigorous debate."
"If you're going to make these assumptions about what is causing global warming, the whole world needs to participate together," Cox said. "The Chinese are opening a new coal-fired power plant every week, and within a few years they will pass us in terms of carbon-dioxide emissions. For the U.S. to impose severe, expensive economic restraints on our own economy, while the Chinese ignore it, would not have any appreciable impact on total global emissions." Boxy. Policy Boss. MegaBoggle. I'd like to see her as a grease spot carbon footprint.
#2
Dat D***nged SUN is still refusing to surrender to tiny Earth = Socialist Earthika. Dat sunny ball of anti-Gaian treason deserves to be tried in absentia at NUREMBURG.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The Big Tent is going up and the various Ringmasters are lining up, testing their bullwhips. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
