Congress, Constitutional Law, International, Justice, Media, Military, Politics, Society, Uncategorized

Lest We Forget

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

The issues discussed on this blog are wide-ranging even though at base we are all about upholding the Constitution and ensuring civil liberties. The disputed election of a President began this millennium in controversy, underlined by a horrific terrorist attack and the prosecution of two unnecessary wars. These wars have lasted longer than any other American war save for the Viet Nam debacle. They have resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, more than eight thousand of our troops, tens of thousands of soldiers with crippling injuries and unprecedented suicide rates among both active and inactive members of our armed forces. Trillions of dollars have been wasted on these adventures in the imperialistic pursuit of empire and no end is in sight, although our complicit corporate media has ceased to find interest in coverage of the continuing devastation.

As we know the linchpin for these phony wars was the attack on 9/11 by a team of Saudi Arabians purportedly working for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. However, the blueprint for this endless quest for America Hegemony was made public in 1997 with the publishing of the manifesto for the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century . This conceptualization laid out plans for a putative American Empire and its’ signatories prominently included those who would become part of the administration of George W. Bush. A list of those signatories will continue after the page break, with the most prominent in bold links.

Project for the New American Century Signatories:

Name Position(s) held Elliott Abrams Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations (2001–2002), Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs (2002–2005), Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy (2005–2009) (all within the National Security Council) Richard Armitage Deputy Secretary of State (2001–2005) John R. Bolton Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (2001–2005), U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005–2006) Dick Cheney Vice President (2001–2009) Eliot A. Cohen Member of the Defense Policy Advisory Board (2007–2009)[62] Seth Cropsey Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (12/2002-12/2004) Paula Dobriansky Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2007) Aaron Friedberg Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Vice President (2003–2005) Francis Fukuyama Member of The President’s Council on Bioethics (2001–2005) Zalmay Khalilzad U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (11/2003 – 6/2005), U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (6/2005 – 3/2007) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2007–2009) I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States (2001–2005) Richard Perle Chairman of the Board, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee (2001–2003) Peter W. Rodman Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security (2001–2007) Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense (2001–2006) Randy Scheunemann Member of the U.S. Committee on NATO, Project on Transitional Democracies, International Republican Institute Paul Wolfowitz Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–2005) 10th President of the World Bank (2005-2007) Dov S. Zakheim Department of Defense Comptroller (2001–2004) Robert B. Zoellick Office of the United States Trade Representative (2001–2005), Deputy Secretary of State (2005–2006), 11th President of the World Bank (2007–Present). And in addition: John Ellis “Jeb” Bush

Many of these people today are closely connected to the Romney Campaign as foreign policy advisors and indeed Romney’s foreign policy designs seem to dovetail nicely with those of the “now defunct” PNAC. Perhaps it is not surprising that the Romney websites’ section on foreign policy is titled: “An American Century” http://www.mittromney.com/collection/foreign-policy . If you follow the links for both PNAC and for the Romney Campaign you will see almost identical policy aims and an overlapping cast of characters.

Now it is well known on this blog that I personally support Barack Obama for President  so I understand that some will call me to task for my hypocrisy in doing so, since I decry the similarities between Obama’s foreign policy, his predecessor’s and indeed PNAC. In this respect my views do not represent those of this blog, its proprietor and even other guest bloggers. To the hypocrisy charge I have two responses:

The first is that my concerns in this coming election focus primarily on domestic policy, women’s rights, gay rights, prejudice against non-whites and finally upon the inequality represented by the privileges of the 1% of our country and the economic oppression of the remaining 99%. In this respect I believe the chasm between the policies of the two candidates is immense. Secondly though, It has been my long time belief that since the “60’s” United States Foreign Policy has been under the control of the 1% as represented by the Military/Industrial/Corporate Complex and thus is out of the hands of any given President. With the George W. Bush Administration this power came to fruition via the response to 9/11 and in panicked legislation like the “Patriot Act”. I believe that President Obama’s power has been limited by the cabal that took charge of our country after JFK’s assassination and whose successors continue to wield power extra-legally. I made that clear in this guest blog from 3/17/12. http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/17/a-real-history-of-the-last-sixty-two-years/#more-46802

Today the steady drumbeat to attack Iran and to replace the regime in Syria is played out by a press coverage that laps up the propaganda about these countries and our duty to intervene in them, fed by people considered being the “serious people” of US foreign policy. I hold no brief for either Iran or Syria, which are countries run by despots and where human rights simply don’t exist. However, the country that equals their human rights abuses and their despotism is to my mind our closest ally in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia. The horrific excesses in the Sudan and in Namibia recall The Shoah, yet we feel no compunction to intervene there. Please also don’t get me started on the North Korean despots and their nuclear weapons, which because of their poverty and lack of oil fall off the radar of those who would have the US be the “world’s policeman”.

What started me in the direction of this guest blog was a video supplied by Russ Baker’s superb investigative website WhoWhatWhy http://whowhatwhy.com/  The video is of former General Wesley Clark, from 2007. General Clark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark_presidential_campaign,_2004  discusses the fact that his contacts in the Pentagon over a period of years beginning in 1999, told him that US Military Policy was the imposition of American Hegemony and the replacement of the governments of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and other countries in the interests of US economic and military power. He connects this “secret” policy with PNAC and their belief that the US should become an Imperial Empire. I would urge you to spend the time to hear General Clark’s point of view and then comment on its validity.

My personal belief is that our country is heading towards becoming a feudalistic empire in the model of ancient Rome. The Romans were masters of warfare and of engineering. With the most powerful armed forces of their time they created an empire almost matchless in world history and imposed their pax romana on a vast geographical scale. While in high school this was taught as a “good thing” for the backward barbarians of the world, the reality was it was an empire built upon cruelty, venality, and oppression, whose citizens were distracted by bread and circuses. I despair at times when I see the similarity between the Roman Republic that Caesar turned to Empire and to the American Republic that those behind PNAC are trying to turn in the same direction. This is occurring as we citizens are caught up in sports, celebrities and TV reality shows, as we decry our dwindling economic power and the growing unimportance of our opinions influencing our government. In this guest blog I’ve tried to make available the foundation on which my opinions are built with the hope that if this topic is of interest to you that you will follow the links to see whether you agree, or disagree with me. As we count down to another important election, we see that this imperialism is an issue that gets almost no coverage, I present this blog lest we forget those whose lives have been coldly sacrificed in this despicable and unnecessary enterprise, whose ultimate aim is imperial power.

Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger

118 thoughts on “Lest We Forget”

  1. Greetings from Stockholm.

    It is the last weekend before school starts, in town the music events, out of doors, are a way to keep the youth who aren’t at a cottage from getting restless.
    The cottage people, ca 30%, are preparing their crayfish or rotten fish parties.
    Where are the crazies? Safely medicated. Where are the alcoholics?; safely with their bottles bought on

    welfare money. Where are the elderly who have mobiility problems?: being shepherded by the young caretakers. Where are the crooks?; crooking quietly. Nobody steals handbags, at least not on the street.
    Where are the “shoot’em up narcotic folks”, not in public toilets, the torlets are bluelighted so they can’t find a vein.

    The child ombudsman got a prize at the “citizens’ square” this afternoon in a sponsored music festival.
    It was the “rag doll” association that works to help children who are not believed in child abuse cases.

    Are there no problems here. Yes, of course there are.
    We have too little love here. Most of those left after the music stopped were in that category.
    But the immigrants are teaching us, a slow process.

    And we have our haves and have nots. But the have nots live comfortably. Our chief problems are junk food and junk culture, mainly TV series and the convenience of playing to your “needs”.

    Best of all we don’t have a MI complex who dictate to the President here. “War in Iraq? You got it!”

  2. “I love how you compare us to the Roman Emiire and the time of “pax romana,” a comparison which I find valid, and blithely suggest that we can somehow step back from that into civilized organization any better than Rome was able to do.”

    Bill H.,

    Where did you read that I believe we can blithely step back from this nightmare of empire? I am really quite pessimistic about that possibility. However, should we just give up, or seek alternatives that will stave off total serfdom for most of us in a theocratic/corporate feudal state, for as long as possible. Buying time in the hope that somehow that which exists now can be overthrown in the future. Yet maybe for you the answer lies in being more comfortable in performing a grand gesture by voting for the Green Party and feeling self righteous. While I truly can understand that type of choice it is not one I’m personally willing to make.

  3. “And I read your piece twice — you never gave a second reason. You went on to talk about the Military/Industrial/Corporate complex, which Obama supports with as much fervor as his predecessors did, and about how his powers have been limited by the JFK-era cabal.”

    Bill H,

    Perhaps the third reading will be the charm, or as an alternative you can look at the quote below.

    “Secondly though, It has been my long time belief that since the “60’s” United States Foreign Policy has been under the control of the 1% as represented by the Military/Industrial/Corporate Complex and thus is out of the hands of any given President. With the George W. Bush Administration this power came to fruition via the response to 9/11 and in panicked legislation like the “Patriot Act”. I believe that President Obama’s power has been limited by the cabal that took charge of our country after JFK’s assassination and whose successors continue to wield power extra-legally. I made that clear in this guest blog from 3/17/12. http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/17/a-real-history-of-the-last-sixty-two-years/#more-46802“

  4. BettyKath, I’m with you, just never was able to express it as well as you have, thank you.

    A former friend who is basically a T-Party lunatic who masqueraded in sheepherder’s clothing for a while said to me a couple of years ago that OBama turned out to be “not as bad as I expected,” and I laughed. I said, “You couldn’t have pulled off what he pulled off because you couldn’t talk a good enough game and somebody would cut your suit and let your belly fall out.” And he got mad at me, too.

  5. Why did Clinton beat GHWB? Might it be that TPTB really wanted NAFTA and GATT and GHWB couldn’t deliver? Clinton was able to twist the right arms to get it. Why didn’t McCain win? Well, the country was tired of Bush. He was “in your face” with what he was going to do. A change was needed to quiet folks down. Now we have Obama. He’s continued all the Bush policies. Do you think we’d have allowed Bush to sign the RTAA? How about the “kill” list? Obama did exactly what he said he would do in Iraq and Afghanistan – wind down Iraq to “only” 50,000 troops and escalate in Afghanistan and go into Pakistan. He didn’t tell us that he would be sending drones all over the middle east spreading death and destruction. The Republican war on women is, to some extent, a ploy. Obama will get another term, the Republicans will quiet down and reemerge in 4 years. But watch Obama make concessions toward privatizing social security and cutting back on medicare and medicaid. We’d scream bloody murder if the Republicans did it, but Obama, as he did with ACA, will “compromise” and we’ll gag but take it.

    gee, this all sounds pretty cynical. guess i’ve been paying too much attention.

  6. We have been fed a huge meal of propaganda. The country was initially populated by corporations, English and Dutch, with mostly indentured servants. The corporations provided the transportation, “gave” away land and animals that didn’t really belong to their “owners” until their passage bill was paid. A few came as “gentry” and actually owned what they received in the handouts.

    Freedom and democracy was for the landed male population. Only men were able to declare that they were “freeman” and allowed to participate. This was true in the 17th century and was carried over into the 18th and 19th centuries, and even the 20th century for many African Americans who were not allowed to vote for various bogus reasons. The idea of the land being ruled by the elite was well grounded from the beginning. It’s only now that the middle class is being moved to the lower class that there is hew and cry.

    One of the reasons we’re having such a hard time is that our CEO:avg worker pay is 475: 1. Most other countries are in the 20:1 range. Our country is leading the march to feudalism.

    re: empire. We’ve fought in nearly every country. When have we really brought all the troops home? We have military bases all over the world. Once are military goes it, it really never comes out.

  7. Its like a brick wall with some people, what creates wealth? People not govt, and empowering the political class to redistribute it is never fair, always corrupt and never succeeds in its aims. Name one govt agency that is not growing like cancer, and the more you allow the gov’t to do, the more it will until it bankrupts the country. Aka USA, America was built on freedom, to do as one pleases without govt intervention, people with your ideas are why there isn’t a gold standard, multiple wars, and tyranny virtually world wide. I didn’t say govt has no role, but roads, police, army should be the limit. We have allowed govt to become such a parasite that it is destroying the middle class via this disgusting redistribution of wealth you guys seem to be in favour of.

    1. Obama cannot cross the Rubicon, no matter what the “3 Warring Graces” (Clinton, Rice, and Power) have to say! The Sirens (the aforementioned plus Valerie Jarrett & Michelle Obama nee Robinson) control the ever candidate. Over and out.

  8. ” Lincoln started a civil war, to ensure a strong central govt, many say because of slavery but if you read history he had no personal issue with slavery, he only wanted a strong central govt. ”

    I’m not sure why you say this. Lincoln was personally opposed slavery, but he considered preserving the union to be more important. He had a choice of ignoring the secession of several states and the attack on Fort Sumter or not. He chose to not ignore the attack. Are you saying Lincoln should have ignored the attack and the secession, i.e. the breaking up of the union? btw, the southern states seceded because of slavery. They were afraid it would become illegal.

  9. one thing is for sure….

    Sweden, just like any other country, has its share of crazy’s…

    we are just lucky, it is about 10% of the population, rather than 50% of it, like the USA has…. :-\

    It was bad 4 years ago….
    all I have seen in 4 years, is it getting MUCH worse…..

  10. LeeJ Carol….

    “help the hungry and ill, the ill who may make others ill ”

    quite frankly….. he doesn’t care about OTHER people…. ONLY himself…..
    YOU can see it in his rantings…..

    he sees Marxism in EVERY corner…. Communism is just one politician away…..
    It is HIS MONEY…. Screw anybody else…..

    Ohhhhh he will NEED those roads….. but, he will count on the people like you and I and others here… we want to contribute… he wants the benefit of this LOVELY country that has shown to allow people success by having a strong infrastructure… and a protective government…. police when you need…. clean water and air….. clean hospitals…. nice roads….. etc….

    he just does NOT want to contribute……

  11. Okay Dave, lets not pay taxes. Are you and your buddies going to make roads, fix bridges, help the hungry and ill, the ill who may make others ill because contagious diseases are not taken care of (and I am not contagiousphobic but people forget this is why ewe have an epidemic of resistent strain TB), All of this does not just helo the “other” it helps you. When the country started and we had a few hundred then a few thousand even democracy and capitalism in a pure form might have been workable. 8 million no way, we must be our brother’s keeper to some extent because his keeping impacts us all.

    1. Dave… People like you are so MIOPIC….

      All you see is GREED and care less about anybody else…

      well… let me break it down for you…

      let me put it into term you might be able to understand…

      when you have EVERYBODY living a DECENT standard of living…..
      YOU have less, social unrest… meaning, LESS people going postal….

      less people in actual poverty…. so less crime… there is a DIRECT link to poverty and crime…..

      when you have an educated society…. people are MORE CIVIL…. and tend to think more about consequences…. so, they make better decisions….

      when EVERYBODY only looks out for themselves….. that is what you get….
      People only caring about themselves….. so then they start cheating people to get MORE…..
      you have more inequality….. so more civil unrest…..

      I have a strong feeling I am preaching to Ayn Rand……

      and quite frankly… I think she was a sociopath…..

      If you like countries that the people only care about themselves…. and have LOW taxes….

      Russia comes to mind…. Ohhhh it is sooo great there…. people will do anything to GET OUT!!!!! even marry somebody they don’t know, just so they can come to Sweden, Norway….. Germany…. America….

      Then there is Somalia…. they have LOW taxes…. and again… only care about themselves…..

      If you hate Canada so much…. MOVE!!!!

      It really is that easy…..

      ONE thing I LOVE about Sweden… I LOVE that there is a standard of living that the government does NOT let its citizens drop below…. It makes for happier people… and healthier people….. and safer people…..

  12. Okay, bailouts are fascist, social security while you “pay” into it, is forced taxation, aka socialist. Capitalism, which there is very little today means take care of yourself, medicare, Medicaid, the fed these are socialist/Marxist ideas that need to be quashed. Maybe you should read some literature on why socialism doesn’t work. It can’t calculate prices and becomes inherently corrupt, aka today.
    So if I’ve mistakenly typed the wrong adjective forgive me, but don’t write off my point. Bailouts, aka fascism puts you, me and the rest of the world at fault for corporate interests. Again fascist. Where is the disagreement.
    Secondly, how much money do programs like social security actually have? $0. Because the corrupt govt’s that forced us to pay for them spend the money and replace it with so called treasuries, it’s a ponzi scheme at best and socialist in a crude sense. These programs need to be abolished not quibbled about as if they are somehow moral, which they are not. I did not sign up for these programs, in Canada’s case Ohip, Canada pension, yet I have to pay for them. As Doug Casey said, democracy is mob rule in a sport coat, aka tryanny of the majority.
    You are glad to pay taxes? This of course means the govt owns you which is not worth debating. Tariffs, maybe excise taxes are permissible, income tax is slavery, people help people all the time via charity we do not need govt to rob me to help others.

  13. Re Obama capitulating. I have a friend angry with him, as I am truly, that he signed the defense act and has given into other issues regarding our rights and war and Gitmo, etc. She likes some of what he did but this gives her pause as to whether to vote for him or not .
    I told her that given the congress he has and their stated goal of only obstructing, Obama has to pick his battles, a signing statement may not be the best but when you have the budget and debt ceiling tango coming up there has to be some negotiation and compromise so that not everything is stalled.

  14. continued….

    In an exclusive interview with Newsmax last week, D’Souza said that Obama’s policies are unmaking the American Dream.

    “Between 2007 and the present, Americans have lost about 40 percent of our wealth. Forty percent. If that happens again, if we lose another 40 percent in the second Obama term, if there is a second Obama term, Americans will be two thirds poorer than they were when Obama came to office,” he told Newsmax. “In a way, America will stop being a first-world country.”

    So far, “2016” is the second-best gross of the year for a documentary after “Bully” ($3.2 million), but that list excludes the nature documentaries “Chimpanzee” ($29 million) and “To the Arctic” ($7.6 million), according to the Hollywood Reporter.

    The documentary opened last month and is already the 12th-highest-grossing political documentary of all time. It also is the No. 2 conservative documentary after “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” ($7.7 million), according to the Reporter.

    The aggressive expansion of Obama’s America, co-directed by D’Souza and John Sullivan, was set to coincide with next week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

  15. The anti-Obama documentary based on Dinesh D’Souza’s book “The Roots of Obama’s Rage” expanded nationwide on Friday — with early first-place showings in the domestic box office rankings, Deadline Hollywood reports.

    As of late Friday afternoon, “2016: Obama’s America” had grossed $700,000 from 1,090 theaters. That compared with $300,000 for the new big-budget, Sylvester Stallone action flick “The Expendables 2,” which is playing in 3,355 theaters, Deadline Hollywood reports.

    The early showing puts Obama’s America on track to gross $1.2 million to $1.7 million on Friday alone, with as much as $3.7 million to $5 this weekend, according to Deadline Hollywood. Its afternoon ranking will likely be eclipsed by “Expendables” and several new releases, including “Ride Like Hell,” starring Michael Shannon.

    Exhibitors reported that busloads of filmgoers arriving at theaters to see Obama’s America in pre-organized trips, Deadline Hollywood reports.

  17. Imperialists like Chaney, FDR, The Rockefellars, Morgans who believe in American exceptiomalism, fund every excuse for war. Social Security, Medicare, The Federal Reserve are all tenants of Marxism, who would argue they are not. George Carlin said you average a major war every 20 years, it’s the only thing your good at. Obama is fascist/Marxist, forcing people to buy health care. Bush and Obama, even Clinton bailed out the banks, fascist. Prosecuting people like Assange for printing merely what embarrasses the state. Lincoln started a civil war, to ensure a strong central govt, many say because of slavery but if you read history he had no personal issue with slavery, he only wanted a strong central govt. There are far too many examples to list, but the root my point is big govt from both sides has ruined liberty in your country.

    1. OK…. I am just going to quickly go over what you have written here….

      First off…. the things you list,. are NOT Marxism…. for example… Social Security… Every working person pays into this…. so, when I am on Social Security… I will have paid into this…..

      Loaning banks money/ Bailing them out, is NOT Fascist…..

      and YOU actually said Marxist…. which is the OPPOSITE End from Fascist….
      where communism is on the LEFT hand of the scale…..
      Fascism is on the RIGHT end of the scale….

      Assange was NEVER prosecuted by the USA….

      he is wanted for questioning in Sweden… BUT, totally unrelated….

      Medicare is more socialist than Marxist…..

      and Europe PROVES that Socialism can go hand in hand with capitalism and needs to for the system to work…

      I live in Sweden, and we have what is now called Socialist Democracy….

      It is mainly capitalism, with a bit of socialism….

      It works… Because pure capitalism will fail, because people can be greedy… and not everybody is going to do well… or even stay above water….

      it does help to level the playing field just a BIT…

      Here in Sweden, we don’t have the wealth gap, that exists in the USA…..

      I am GLAD I pay taxes, so that others may have benefits that help them, such as health care…. and even with the high taxes… at NO TIME do I feel LESS free than I did in the USA….. I actually feel MORE free….. as the threat of a major family illness will not wipe out my family…. nor will we lose our home… which does happen to a LOT of people in the USA……

  18. “The first” reason for supporting Obama “is that my concerns in this coming election focus primarily on domestic policy, women’s rights, gay rights, prejudice against non-whites and finally upon the inequality represented by the privileges of the 1% of our country and the economic oppression of the remaining 99%.”

    And it doesn’t bother you that, before discussion of the laughably named “health care reform” discussion began he made a deal with the drug industry that Medicare price negotiation and drug reimportation would remain off the table? It doesn’t bother you that after saying that he would “stand shoulder to shoulder” with labor unions he avoided Wisconsin like it was infected with plague? It doesn’t bother you that he tried to pretend that “Occupy Wall Street” did not exist?

    And I read your piece twice — you never gave a second reason. You went on to talk about the Military/Industrial/Corporate complex, which Obama supports with as much fervor as his predecessors did, and about how his powers have been limited by the JFK-era cabal. I hate to think how he would have acted had his powers not been limited, since he has expanded one war and started another without Congressional approval, is killing American citizens without charging them with crimes, and is ordering military missions and assasinations in a dozen countries world wide without oversight.

    I love how you compare us to the Roman Emiire and the time of “pax romana,” a comparison which I find valid, and blithely suggest that we can somehow step back from that into civilized organization any better than Rome was able to do. What sort of nobility or intellect do we have that Rome lacked?

Comments are closed.