Articles Linked Today

Here are some links to good articles.

1. The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent.

This is the story of some kids, 21-27 years old, who defied Nazi Germany in the name of morality and humanity. They made the world more human and more fraternal, though they were killed by the Nazi "National Security Courts" of their time, the People's Court.

Favorite Quote:

Sophie Scholl shocked everyone in the courtroom when she remarked to [Judge] Freisler: "Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare to express themselves as we did." Later in the proceedings, she said to him: "You know the war is lost. Why don't you have the courage to face it?"

2. Israel's Amen Corner

Shows the involvement of Israel and the Israeli lobby, especially AIPAC, in US politics and foreign policy arrangements.

Favorite Quote:

Likewise, the conceptual theory of foreign policy, that traces the origin of a given government’s actions in the international arena to abstract ideas and official ideologies, is utter nonsense. This confuses the rationalization with the motivation. Ideals, noble and ignoble, are the masks behind which governments conceal their real goals, which can be boiled down to a single purpose: the maintenance and expansion of the ruling elite’s power on the home front.

3. Iran Sanctions are a Precursor to War. by Ron Paul

I think the title is 'nuff said.

Favorite Quote:

As bad as other regimes may be, it is up to their own people to deal with them so they can achieve true self-determination. When foreigners instigate regime change, the new government they institute is always perceived as serving the interest of the overthrowing country, not the people. Thus we take the blame for bad governance twice. Instead, we should stay out of their affairs altogether.

4. Joe Scarborough on War, keynote at CATO.org

Favorite Quote:

In 2010, there’s not much difference between the Republicans’ view on foreign policy and the Democrats’ view of foreign policy,” said Scarborough. “President Obama… this anti-war president, has doubled the number of troops to Afghanistan to nearly 100,000… and he’s continued the transformation of the Afghanistan effort from a counterterrorism mission to a nation-building mission.”

5. The Wars of Tribe and Faith, by Pat Buchanan

The anti-war old Rightist Pat Buchanan writes about the ethnonationalism of the Middle East. I find it fascinating how our ignorance of tribal and ethnic ties in the Middle East have now come back to haunt us as we impose democracy around the world (bombing people into freedom).

Favorite Quote:

In 2005, George W. Bush, then promoting global democracy as the answer to all of mankind’s ills and an essential precondition for any permanent security for the United States, demanded free elections in Egypt, Lebanon, and Palestine. The winners: the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas [in Palestine]. A perplexed Bush refused to accept the results or recognize and talk to the winners.

6. Follow That Story! by Justin Raimondo

Justin Raimondo brings up two major stories with the Iraq invasion that were never followed up by the Justice Department or the mainstream media. He brings them up and refreshes us on the insidious details.

Favorite Quote:

Expecting Congress to investigate these brazen violations of law and US national security is almost as pointless as waiting for the US media to pursue the story – i.e., forget it, and down the Memory Hole it goes. Here at Antiwar.com, however, these stories are still alive, because that’s why we’re here – to debunk the lies and keep reminding you of who told them.

War Frenzy

Let us get a few things straight:

1. Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and never did. Saddam, though a tyrant in his own country, was not creating WMD's, was not shipping them to Syria, and was not brokering a deal with Al-Qaeda to give WMD's to them for us against the United States.

2. Iraq and their "aluminum tubes" were not making nuclear weapons, according to all of our intelligence agencies, as well as British and German intelligence agencies, and also the IAEA.

3. We went to war with Iraq on complete lies; and the most outrageous thing about it all is that we are using almost the exact same lies in order to go to war with Iran.

4. Tyranny is inherent to Imperial regimes. There is no freedom at home when there is aggressive expansion abroad. Wars abroad is usually cover or excuse for increasing both welfare and the police state at home, which we are watching unfold before our eyes today with Obamacare and the increased militarization of our police forces.

Iran does have a nuclear program, but that program is not even close to being able to make weapons, nor is it meant to. Weaponized uranium has to be highly enriched, 95% or more. Current configurations of their reactors at Natanz are not capable of enriching more than around 6%, which is perfectly fine for domestic nuclear power. For making nuclear medicine, which Iran seeks to do for their research programs, they must enrich to 20%. Just to get it to this level, they are having massive setbacks and complications that they cannot achieve it yet.

The United States is going through a massive recession and is facing a deadly and prolonged depression. Our manufacturing sector is hemorrhaging jobs, while household debt has climbed and personal savings plummeted. We as individuals or households, and as a nation, have no savings, huge debts, and don't have jobs to create real wealth. We are in a war with two countries, while preparing to go to war for no real reason with Iran. The Bushites told us the war would basically be free because of all the oil we would be getting, which are now going to China and others, mainly. We have increased security at home of our own citizens and are now talking about assassination of US citizens who are suspected of cooperation with terrorists! All the while increasing Medicare, Medicaid, and trying to pass Obamacare. So we cannot afford any of this, so our elected officials go ahead and approve all of it.

War frenzy is dangerous.

Those who refuse to participate in the 24 hour news cycle version of the Orwellian Two Minutes Hate against Arabs/Muslims are marginalized and isolated. Those who really want to put America first are ridiculed as isolationists on both the Left and the Right. One left-wing writer mocked Ron Paul's view of an America-first approach to foreign policy by saying he wants to reduce our military to the Coast Guard. He just wants to bring our troops home from places like Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, etc. World War II and the Cold War are over. Bring them home and shut these bases down.

A big danger with war frenzy is the confusion between patriotism and state-worship. The government is composed of fallible, corruptible human persons and our US system is meant to be limited by each branch opposing each other, with the States opposing the federal government. With our two party system, however, it is not branches that oppose, or States that oppose, but just the theater of opposition between Democrats and Republicans. You are declared a terrorist sympathizer, as Liz Cheney and Kristol are calling the lawyers for suspected Al-Qaeda members locked up indefinitely in Gitmo. You are "on their side" or else you "want us to lose" if you oppose the outrageous and aggressive measures (not to mention illegal) the government has taken in pursuing war with supposed terror states.

Ad Hominem Human Persons

Persons are reduced propaganda, as being "for the enemy" and are opposed outright, not allowing rational debate to take place. Most anti-war people are asking for a debate, knowing the pro-war side (whether for war in Iran or pro-Iraq/Afghanistan) is the weakest. But such debates do not take place between pro- and anti-war groups; only between pro-war and really pro-war is discussion allowed to happen, so the results are always the same: more war.

The hippies of the 60's are the humanitarian warhawks of today. The warhawks of the 60's are Senators and Representatives today who approve of war budgets, defend torture and extraordinary rendition, and are owned by the billion dollar military-industrial complex. These are the people who, together, send our young men and women into battle 6,000 miles away for no real national security need.

When patriotism is replaced with state-worship, then those who oppose the state's actions are not just wrong, but are heretics, deviants, or sympathizers. This needs to stop.

Discourse, honest and open, needs to be returned to the American political system. Debate and argument needs to be the center of policy making again. Lack of criticism will destroy this country. Lack of argument will bleed her dry. All empires overextend themselves. The same will be true for America. There is no exceptionalism for that.