The Rant

Bob's post of a couple of days ago quoting Mr. Sharansky suggests the world is full of White Hats (democracies) which are our friends and Black Hats (tyrants, dictators and Mullahs) who are our enemies. World politics has never been that symplistic. Encouraging democratic governments is fine in principle, but sometimes you cut deals with the devil because its better than the alternative. The Shah of Iran, Stalin, Pinochet, the South Vietnamese government, Afgan fundementalists, and yes even Saddam have been our allies in the past. The principles announced in the inaugural address (echoing the "lofty principles" of PNAN and the Neocons) never includes the part which says if it is expedient to support a tyrant, that's OK too, if it furthers OUR PURPOSES. Doesn't sound so lofty and well principled anymore, does it?

From Jeff Abouaf - A Paul Krugman article pointing out the problem with privatization as presently being discussed From the NYT 1-21-05:: The Free Lunch Bunch By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: January 21, 2005 Did they believe they would be welcomed as liberators? Administration plans to privatize Social Security have clearly run into unexpected opposition. Even Republicans are balking; Representative Bill Thomas says that the initial Bush plan will soon be a "dead horse." That may be overstating it, but for privatizers the worst is yet to come. If people are rightly skeptical about claims that Social Security faces an imminent crisis, just wait until they start looking closely at the supposed solution. Advertisement President Bush is like a financial adviser who tells you that at the rate you're going, you won't be able to afford retirement - but that you shouldn't do anything mundane like trying to save more. Instead, you should take out a huge l...

posted by Bob Clasen from Newsweek http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6867187/site/newsweek/ Closing the Neocon Circle George W. Bush has unveiled a new vision for U.S. foreign policy. His inspiration: Israel’s Natan Sharansky Mannie Garcia / Reuters (left); AP Sharansky’s influence on Bush’s thinking could have an impact in the years ahead WEB EXCLUSIVE By Michael Hirsh Newsweek Updated: 3:13 p.m. ET Jan. 25, 2005 Jan. 25 - Natan Sharansky can bestow no higher praise than to call George W. Bush an honorary “dissident.” And the Israeli cabinet minister says he is elated that the U.S. president, in his second inaugural speech last week, appeared to fully embrace Sharansky’s vision of foreign policy. “It’s clear to me that he read my book,” Sharansky, a squat cannonball of a man with a heavy Russian accent, told NEWSWEEK. “I only wish that my mentor, Andrei Sakharov, were alive to see this,” Sharansky added, referring to the Soviet nuclear scientist who risked his life and car...

Bob: Did you Seymour Hirsch on CNN Friday or Saturday. He was followed by the Republican Senator from Georgia - Shelby (Mr. Bush can do no wrong) Hirsch as you have read was concerned about Defense Department "intelligence" operations in Iran. Why, because the Defense Department is not subject to the same intelligence oversight as the CIA, NSA, etc. Shelby came on and announced that the Defense Dept. Wants to create its own intelligence czar to head up all intelligence for all branches of the military. This would be separate from the newly approved national intelligence director proposed by the 9/11 commission. Lou Dobbs seem baffled? He asked Shelby whether this was an end run around Congressional oversight. Shelby dodged the question and said Congress had itself to blame for not overseeing the intelligence establishment??? What the hell does that mean? I guess all the clandestine CIA operatives will just get detailed to defense until the press drops this issu...

posted by Bob Clasen from the NY Times ______________________ Shiites in Iraq Say Government Will Be Secular By DEXTER FILKINS Published: January 24, 2005 AGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 21 - With the Shiites on the brink of capturing power here for the first time, their political leaders say they have decided to put a secular face on the new Iraqi government they plan to form, relegating Islam to a supporting role. The senior leaders of the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of mostly Shiite groups that is poised to capture the most votes in the election next Sunday, have agreed that the Iraqi whom they nominate to be the country's next prime minister would be a lay person, not an Islamic cleric. The Shiite leaders say there is a similar but less formal agreement that clerics will also be excluded from running the government ministries. "There will be no turbans in the government," said Adnan Ali, a senior leader of the Dawa Party, one of the largest Shiite pa...

Al-Zarqawi tape calls for election violence (posted by Bob Clasen) http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20050123-070941-7254r.htm BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- An voice claiming to be militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi calls on Sunni Muslims to fight against Iraq's election. "We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it," the speaker says in a message broadcast via an Islamist Web site. "We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it." The speaker attacked democracy as a springboard for "un-Islamic" practices and said majority rule violated the principle that all laws must come from a divine source, the BBC reported Sunday. "Candidates in elections are seeking to become demi-gods, while those who vote for them are infidels," the tape said. Meanwhile, Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told the BBC's "B...