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Peace through intimidation
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Is there anyone in the American government who recognizes the moral hazzard of trying to impose peace through intimidation?
While the Strategic Air Command, the custodians of American atom bombs, were persuaded that "Peace is out Profession," the fact of the matter is that, despite their best efforts, there has been no peace on earth while the United States supposedly reigned supreme.
Nevertheless, the delusion continues.
Raptors set to deploy to Guam
Six F-22 Raptors from the 90th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, are set to deploy to Andersen AFB, Guam, July 18 to Aug. 2.
The F-22s, along with associated maintenance and support personnel, will deploy to Guam to participate in the Jungle Shield exercise and conduct Cope Thaw training.
Jungle Shield will exercise 13th Air Force's air defense mission in Guam and validate the area air defense commander's ability to command and control such missions from the 613th Air and Space Operations Center here.....
This is the first deployment of Pacific Air Forces-assigned F-22s. It also marks the second deployment of the F-22 to the Pacific theater. In February 2007, F-22s and personnel from the 27th FS at Langley AFB, Va., deployed to Kadena Air Base, Japan.
F-15E Strike Eagles and B-52 Stratofortresses and their aircrews already deployed to Andersen also will participate in Jungle Shield. Other participants include 13th AF and 613th AOC personnel here and 36th Wing personnel assigned to Andersen.
The United States routinely evaluates readiness and repositions forces as needed to ensure capabilities necessary to meet obligations in the Asia-Pacific region. These deployments demonstrate the continued U.S. commitment to fulfill security responsibilities throughout the Western Pacific and to maintain peace in the region.
Maybe it's just me, but the idea that evil doers (of which I don't doubt there are many) are going to be deterred by jet planes soaring through the stratosphere is not convincing, regardless of how often the "airpower summary" reports from Southwest Asia assert that "shows of force" have deterred "the enemy." Nor is the certification by the JTAC of effectiveness persuasive. The Air Force has been strafing and bombing Iraq for over five years and the only thing we have to show for it is over a million dead and lots of destroyed buildings--not something to be proud of, considering that Iraq was the cradle of civilization.
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Peace On Earth is a rather impossible term in 20th Century thinking. However, in 1994 the concept of war between nations became pretty much obsolete. Yes, there were civil wars and post colonial border dispute. There was downright ethnic clensing in the former Yugoslavia and post colonial genocide in Arica, but the concept of bringing competing national armies into battle had pretty much fallen by the wayside.
Even the Iraq quagmire isn't an international war in the traditional sense. We invaded a sovereign nation in order to control its oil.
War between nations pretty much came to an end in the last Century. Peace On Earth is a different matter. We are at a crossroads where certain interests want to take civilization to a place where the majority of Earth's population doesn't want it to go.
This is the real battle.
- Won't even let me have a toolbar for a reply. . . .
By puddle on Jul 20, 2008 11:00 PM EDTGotta love a buggy blog, lol!
Great post Monica. However: that would be --"peace is *our* profession" . . . . spellcheckers can only take you but so far. . . .
It is such a tragedy that million innocent Iraqi civilians have paid the price for the wrath of 9/11, something they had nothing to do with. In a similar way, the Palestinians, have paid a misbegotten price for the holocaust.
Iraqis never strapped bombs on their wives and daughters and sent them to our weddings. Nor aimed bombs at our market places, or. . . .
The actions of a relatively few individuals do not represent an entire culture, but these actions are an indication of how much hopeless desperation there is the prisons we call Gaza and the West Bank, made that way by the sophisticated Brits and Zionists, who made them homeless and destitute by force.
There were similar actions of suicidal abandon by Jews during the holocaust, and who can forget Masai, where Jewish killed their own children, before killing themselves, rather than live with humiliation and slavery.
You should pity these people, puddle, rather than insult them as a red-herring to comprehending the tragedy imposed upon them by the Brits and the Revisionist Zionists in the past century, no better than the self-righteous "manifest destiny" of the white man.
Barack Obama arrives in Baghdad
US Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has arrived in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, on the second stage of a major foreign tour.
Mr Obama, who is visiting as part of a Congressional delegation, will meet senior Iraqi officials, military leaders and US embassy officials.
They will also meet service personnel and civilian staff working in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7516624.stm
(CNN) -- A U.S. Air Force B-52 with six crew members on board crashed off the island of Guam on Monday, an Air Force spokesman said.
<!--startclickprintexclude-->
<!--===========/IMAGE===========-->
<!--===========CAPTION==========-->The B-52H Stratofortress was in Guam as part of a four-month rotation.<!--===========/CAPTION=========-->
Rescuers with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy were searching a point in the Pacific Ocean about 30 miles northwest of Guam, a U.S. territory, where the plane is believed to have crashed, said Capt. Joel Stark, spokesman for Andersen Air Force Base.
He had no information on whether anyone survived.
The B-52H Stratofortress was based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and was in Guam as part of a four-month rotation, Stark said.
It went down about 9:45 a.m. local time (7:45 p.m. ET Sunday).
A B-52 from Andersen Air Force Base was scheduled to fly over crowds celebrating Liberation Day, which commemorates the U.S. capture of Guam from Japan in 1944, Stark said.
But it was unclear whether the plane that crashed was the one that had been scheduled to perform the flyover
Of course, putz's "nanny" continues the "peace with intimidation" theme with Iran. Rice says that Iran was "not serious" at the recent discussions.
And the US was? Give me a break!
Unfortunately, she's now got Gordon Brown dancing to her tune ... and all are dancing away before the Israeli Knesset. Who is really calling the tune here? At least Brown will also call for a halt to the building of Israeli settlements on Occupied Land, which is a no-brainer.
Peace through intimidation does not work. But we keep doing the same thing over and over again. Are we being set up for an attack on Iran? Phil's comment about the Japanese envoy being in DC during the Pearl Harbor attack in '41 is particularly astute.
Brown to target Iran in historic first speech from Knesset floor
By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Monday, 21 July 2008
Gordon Brown will today use the first ever speech by a British prime minister to the Israeli parliament to issue a clear threat of tougher international action if Iran fails to halt steps towards becoming a nuclear military power.
[...]
While stressing Israel's right to live in security, he declared: "As a child, I learnt about Bethlehem from the Bible as a symbol of peace and a symbol of hope. But today, the wall here is graphic evidence of the urgent need for justice for the Palestinian people and an end to the occupation and the need for a viable Palestinian state."
[...]
- I'm a bit disappointed by this headline and sincerely
By JudyforDean on Jul 21, 2008 4:08 AM EDThope that during his visit, Obama also met with aid and development workers, not just with Afghan ministers and the military. Why is it that candidates feel that they have to manifest their most "machismo" qualities?
It is not on the battlefield that Afghanistan will be won. Peace through intimidation (including killing guests at wedding parties) does not win hearts and minds.
<!-- end article-header -->Obama uses crucial foreign tour to promise more troops for Afghanistan
· Country's role 'urgent and precarious', Democrat says
· Presidential candidate leaves Kabul for Iraq
- Ewen MacAskill in Washington and Jess Smee in Berlin
- The Guardian,
- Monday July 21, 2008
Barack Obama flew out of Afghanistan yesterday at the end of a two-day visit with a warning that the country's position in the war against the Taliban and al-Qaida was "precarious" and "urgent".
Obama has promised that, if elected president in November, he will send 10,000 more US troops to Afghanistan to bolster the 36,000 already there and intends to press European countries to become more engaged in the fighting.
[...]
Afghan officials afterwards described the meeting as "positive", saying they had discussed the war and how to tackle corruption and expanding poppy production. Afterwards, in an interview with the US network CBS, Obama signalled that the country would be at the forefront of his foreign policy: "We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent ... and I believe this has to be the central focus, the central front, in the battle against terrorism."
[...]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/21/barackobama.uselections2008/print
- Why is it that candidates feel that they have to manifest their most "machismo" qualities?
By Jo*in*Vermont on Jul 21, 2008 5:47 AM EDTlet's think about it. this is a high-security visit, obviously. there are places he is allowed to go and people he is allowed to meet with and I would imagine many he is not. it's also a brief visit and I too hope he has had the opportunity to speak with the aid workers, but would not be surprised if that was limited - I believe the channels to arrange those meetings are much different than those to meet with heads of state and are often difficult to negotiate. but from the looks on the faces in Kuwait and Afghanistan, just about everyone is excited to meet Obama!
and you're right - it's not on the battlefield that this will be won, yet under the circumstances I find it difficult to believe that diplomacy, policing and intelligence alone are enough to get a handle on the violence there. it will take a combined effort that includes all of the above and a real commitment to tracking down the training facilities and the leaders of Al Queda.
I believe this first short trip is a message to the world that a President Obama would operate much differently than a Bush or a McSame and it really shouldn't be much more that that - at this point in time.
I'm not sure where machismo fits into this picture, but would love to know what brought you to that conclusion, Judy.
- Hi Jo ... nice to "see" you ... even though this is just a dash-by.
By JudyforDean on Jul 21, 2008 8:15 AM EDTAs for the "machismo" reference that mystified you, it ties in with the theme of this thread. Peace through intimidation = more soldiers, more guns and so forth.
My disappointment was that the headline (not in Obama's control, of course) reflected "more guns" (i.e., machismo") and that sound bites from the Obama campaign seem to bear this focus out, even though the full words/speeches of the candidate himself seem to place his foreign policy in a broader context, e.g., guns AND butter, as well as international cooperation.
Even McCan't is starting to mouth Obama's words about more soldiers for Afghanistan. Thus, Obama's sound bites should begin to emphasize the broader context more, IMO, if he really wants to differentiate himself from the failed policies of putzCo.
I'm also not sure why you would think it would have been any more difficult security-wise to arrange a brief meeting with heads of UN agencies and international organizations, as well as NGOs, who are based in Kabul (sadly, Iraq is still so unsafe despite the "success" of the "surge" that most aid agencies have to be headquartered in Jordan rather than in Iraq itself) during his visit, even with its necessarily limited scope. It really isn't ... as I know well. It's not as if he is expected to visit field offices where there would indeed be different security concerns.
Perhaps he did meet with at least some ... or at least gave a token nod to them ... and it was not reported. If he didn't this time, let us hope that such a strategy will indeed be part of his foreigh policy when he is elected President, as I heartily hope he will be.
- For better or for worse, Obama is now in Iraq.
By JudyforDean on Jul 21, 2008 4:15 AM EDTLet us hope he does not begin waffling about the pull-out.
I loved the weekend stories about the WH mistakenly sending out the story that al-Maliki himself favored Obama's pullout plan ... to be hastily followed by loud denials from everywhere.
With putzCo, no one has to send in the clowns. They're already there.
But they are NOT funny clowns.
July 21, 2008Obama arrives in Iraq amid troop pullout row
<!--CMA user Call Diffrenet Variation Of Image --><!-- BEGIN: Module - M24 Article Headline with no image (a) --><!-- getting the section url from article. This has been done so that correct url is generated if we are coming from a section or topic --><!-- Print Author name associated with the article --><!-- Print Author name from By Line associated with the article -->Deborah Haynes, BaghdadBarack Obama arrived in Baghdad today on the third leg of a world tour aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials and convincing the US public that he has what it takes to become the next commander-in-chief.The controversial issue of troop withdrawal is expected to feature highly in meetings between Mr Obama and a line of senior Iraqi, US and British officials that he is scheduled to meet over the next 24 hours.[...]The Iraqi leader also made remarks in a German magazine that appeared to endorse Mr Obama’s vision of a 16-month exit over the policy of Mr McCain.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister, however, rushed out a statement yesterday saying that his remarks about Mr Obama had been “misunderstood, mistranslated and not conveyed accurately”, and that they “should not be understood as support to any US presidential candidate”.
[...]
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article4370611.ece
<!-- END: Module - Main Heading -->
- Sorry fo including all the junk ... mea culpa.
By JudyforDean on Jul 21, 2008 4:17 AM EDT
<cite id="photoTimestamp">Mon Jul 21, 5:03 AM ET</cite>
...
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/07/21/eco.obama.support.ap/index.html?section=cnn_latest
Barack Obama gains more backing from green groups
...
The League of Conservation Voters will become the latest green group to back Democrat Barack Obama in five separate events across the country Monday. Its pick shouldn't be a surprise. Its scorecard of votes on environmental issues for the first session of the current Congress gave Obama a score of 67 and Republican John McCain a zero. The Arizona senator did not show up for any of the votes the group scored.
"When you look specifically at the twin challenges of cutting global warming pollution and moving toward a clean energy future, on those issues Barack Obama has the most comprehensive plan we have ever seen for a presidential nominee," said league president Gene Karpinsky.
...
Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club announced their support for Obama earlier this year, citing McCain's support for more offshore drilling, expanding nuclear power and a gas tax holiday.
...
Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, which has yet to announce its endorsement, said McCain's renegade image as a Republican crusader on global warming doesn't square with his record.
...
I'm not sure how I react to being the front post. Indeed, I'm especially ambivalent about covering the Air Force since I don't even fly. But, as I've mentioned before, agencies that get ignored tend to get into trouble. And the Air Force certainly seems to have more than its share.
Checking the Air Force news yesterday to see if a replacement Secretary had been named, I ran accross a summary of recent "disasters" and crashes and the list keeps getting longer. Guam is concerning since it would seem that's where major assets are to be redeployed from Iraq, South Korea, Japan and Diego Garcia and the services don't seem adequate.
I really think that the reliance on electronics for day to day flights (as opposed to the occasional space launch) is rife with potential problems because electrons just aren't reliable.
Gov. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, signs autographs during the Register for Change Tour for Barack Obama at old Spar Stadium in Shreveport Saturday morning.
Dean leads voter registration drive from Texas to Shreveport
By BOBBIE J. CLARK, Special to the News-Journal
Sunday, July 20, 2008
SHREVEPORT, La. — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told dozens of people attending a Democratic voter registration rally here Saturday morning that "poverty, climate change and Darfur" were three of the most important issues facing evangelical Christians in this year's presidential election. ...
Asking for trouble
July 21, 2008Jim Rufo is 44 years old, grew up in Holyoke and now lives near Albany. He and his wife, Tracy, have season tickets for the Celtics and they were there all year for the great, long ride, and were there the night that KG and the boys sent Kobe and the rest of the Lakers packing.
It was a terrific night and the Rufos stepped out onto Causeway Street feeling as good as they had ever felt. Within minutes, things turned uncomfortable.
Not with the crowd. But with the police.
"It looked as though they were ready for the south LA riots after the Rodney King verdict. We watched the police unload from buses. They were in riot gear, with batons and shields," Jim Rufo was saying the other day. "There were hundreds and hundreds of them, and I looked around and said, 'Is this really necessary?'
- the biggest sign of support from Obama for the netroots
By Jo*in*Vermont on Jul 21, 2008 7:30 AM EDTin watching him embrace the 50 state strategy with Howard. I'm impressed with his quick move to get his staff onboard to raise funds for the DNC and providing Howard with the time, personnel and material support to go on this huge 2 month voter registration tour.
I applaud them both for their efforts. what it requires now is for US to stay engaged and help them out... and I do believe that together we can take our country to a better place.
off to work - I hope you all have a great day! thanks for keeping the military's actions front and center, Monica.
Gov. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, signs autographs during the Register for Change Tour for Barack Obama at old Spar Stadium in Shreveport Saturday morning.
Dean leads voter registration drive from Texas to Shreveport
By BOBBIE J. CLARK, Special to the News-Journal
Sunday, July 20, 2008
SHREVEPORT, La. — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean told dozens of people attending a Democratic voter registration rally here Saturday morning that "poverty, climate change and Darfur" were three of the most important issues facing evangelical Christians in this year's presidential election. ...
- It's my sense that for many people religious
By Monica Smith on Jul 21, 2008 8:15 AM EDTdogma and direction is an attractive alternative to being told what to do by secular rulers. That is, in freely choosing to follow religious tenets, they realize their autonomy. But that's not what attracts conservatives. Consesrvatives, being authoritarians or autocrats, perceive religious affilitiation as a venue in which to realize their authoritarian impulses. Evildoers, like the Bush/Cheney gang, have another purpose--they perceive the veil of secrecy and privacy as a shield behind which they can hide their malevolent aspirations.
Evangelicals would seem to have finally realized that they were being taken for a ride. For some reason, good people often miss that they are being targeted by the bad. Even though it seems obvious that evil realizes a greater success when it subverts the good, rather than just co-habits with the bad.
http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/netroots-nation-reckons-life-after-revolution
Netroots Nation Reckons With Life After the Revolution
But the main question in the days leading up to the conference was how attendees would react to Obama, who has irked the liberal bloggers with what they perceive as his centrist creep. Again, the media build-up – despite assurances beforehand from conference-goers that they really like Obama—turned out to have been vastly overdone.
Obama's deputy campaign manager, Steve Hildebrand, was treated like a hero, with people waiting to shake his hand after a panel discussion.
Obama himself sent in a lengthy video address, in which he recognized differences in opinion on government wiretapping, but called on the bloggers to help build a "progressive movement for years to come" and rallied the attendees to concentrate their writing to the greater cause of beating John McCain in the general election. "I'm asking for your help in the fight that lies ahead," he said.
Hardly anybody refused.
...The spouse was reading about Obama in the New Yorker this morning and commenting on the effect of Obama moving to the center. He seems to like the meme that only politicians get elected; not ideologues. I had to be rather dismissive about the supposed centering of Obama and assured him that Obama barely made it into the progressive column to begin with. LOL
...
|
Sen. John McCain |
44% | 19634 |
| Sen. Barack Obama | 56% | 24499 |
|
Total Votes: 44133 |
...
- I had to be rather dismissive about the supposed centering of Obama and assured him that Obama barely made it into the progressive column to begin with. LOL
By Phil Specht on Jul 21, 2008 8:41 AM EDTBarack Obama only had to stay to the left of Hillary Clinton which put him pretty close to the "center" all along, (of likely voters), but at some point I want a candidate that appeals to the tens of millions who don't vote because they can't tell any difference between the parties. We have that chance and I hope the Chicago brain trust doesn't blow it, because that would be a major re-alignment that would doom Republican chances for decades.
No one will "win" in Afganistan anymore than they could "win" in Iraq; a status quo that leaves everyone in a "live and let live" frame is the best outcome. That condition is what makes the real bad guys stand out. In conditions of general violence and availability of small arms there are no end of the lines of young men who will stand up to defend their homes. Islam is a religion that emphasizes hospitality to strangers, but we have kicked in enough doors to probably change that attitude for decades to come. So far we have not made Pakistan an enemy and that has to be the immediate goal.
We are handing out absentee requests like candy and have to be very vigilant to male sure we follow up and get that vote counted. I prefer to start a more targeted program to actually bank the votes of less likely voters than bother those who would likely vote anyway. some very elderly people look forward to getting out on election day and seeing old friends. young mothers with an erratic pattern of voting in the past would be my focus (when I served on that sub-committee of the SCC we did just that). a shotgun approach works too but requires diligence in retrieval.
a takes a dedicated responsible volunteer to help with that aspect of GOTV, but it is one area where you get the reward of knowing for certain that you delivered votes for your candidate
with the new data bases it is much easier than the old days of hand kept records( the young'ns will never believe we actually kept hand written records in the old days)
we expect to win the election the first week of absentee voting here
one line I use is "Vote now and you can just tune out the flood of ads in the media near election day." (while realizing that the jaywalkers don't even know it is an election year til a few days before November)
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By Annilow on Jul 20, 2008 10:40 PM EDTHoward Dean is first and Monica is a great diarist.
Totally off topic, here's a little vignette of Met operas from the last two years. I think we see RP as Sarastro for one half nanosecond but not his singing. Still, you can get an idea of the opulence of the sets and costumes at the Met.
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/features/detail_media.aspx?id=4348
at the little black box lower right, click for a 6 minute trailer, sort of.