Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Monday, February 12, 2007

War: It’s just a pretext away (lessons from Yugoslavia)

Posted by Mickey Z on 02/12 at 05:02 AM

Morning all. Chilly in NoVa this morning, but sunny.

I am always playing catch up on Mondays, so I just read the DailyKos article on hating america, and the comments there. Something that seems so absurd is that most of the people aren’t even debating the issue. They’re chastizing you for writing something that, in their minds, gives fuel to the right. And then they go on about how to win votes. I can’t help but to conclude that they don’t care about what IS right, or how to change what is broken. It is all reactionary, and vote-centered. I don’t get that. If you are not willing to address problems, what do you think is going to change by a different person in the oval office?

Frustrating, anyway, that most of them missed your points in the biggest possible way. Expected, but pathetic nonetheless. The article was a great one. Certainly clear enough that they really don’t have an excuse.

I thought it was cute that someone asked if you’d ever been to NYC. But that person saying that the u.s. is the only place you’re allowed to say it sucks? Are they kidding me? That was so ignorant it was actually funny. Maybe they were joking.

When Bush was re-elected (in a manner of speaking) one of the first things I said was “looks like we’ll be invading Iran.” I was wrong on two levels - first of all, I thought it would happen in the first year of his 2nd term, and second of all I’m not sure we’d be anywhere different if Kerry had become president.

Anyone have any good news? Mine is that I gave up on renting something and am going into debt instead. Is that good news? Well, it becomes official 8 days from now, good or not. I will have a patio. That seems pretty good to me.

Posted by Deb on from NoVa 02/12 at 07:48 AM

Good morning all...I am trying to recover from watching Diane Sawyer interview the President of Iran, Ahmadinejad. Her interview was shockingly amateurish and showed a level of bias unmatched even by FOX these days. I nominate her for the “Bad Journalist of the Day Award”. Contrasting that to DN today and the Amy Goodman interview of Josh Wolf who should be given “The Journalist of the Year Award”.
Congratulations to the Dixie Chicks. When we all start singing “I’m Not Ready to Make Nice” it will be a very good day.
Deb...Congratulations to you on your new home. It is a tough decision to make. I have been there and after searching for a place to rent decided to build my own house. Twice I made that decision. May your home be filled with peace and happiness. About the debt, try to not worry too much. Almost everyone I know is in debt, most NOT from frivolous spending, unless you consider food and shelter frivolous...just part of living in a dying Empire.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 02/12 at 08:54 AM

Great article as always. It still amazes what the powerful are able to get away with, with the full complicity of the media that is supposed to hold powerful people to account. Ah the beauty of capitalism and the profit imperative.

My wife and I are also in the process of buying our first home. Very stressful! Am trying to find a house so I can continue to bike to work but the price increases as distance to work decreases so I will have a long bike ride to work. Anyway, hope the house-buying goes well for you Deb.

Chau for now

Edson

Posted by Edson Castilho on from Halifax, Nova Scotia 02/12 at 09:20 AM

Thanks RMJ! It is sad that the basics of life often feel like luxuries. Add fresh water to that list. Soon there will be a charge for breathing clean air, don’t you think?

I can’t believe that Josh is still being held. That is, I can believe it, and I wish I was pessimistic and cynical instead of realistic.

If anyone wants to read up on him: http://freejosh.pbwiki.com/

Posted by Deb on from NoVa 02/12 at 09:31 AM

Oh, simultyping, Edson! Thanks and good luck with your search as well. I ended up buying in the neighborhood I’m living in, so my search was relatively easy. I hear you on expense of location. I’m 12 miles from work, and it would take 2 hours on public transit, versus the 20 minutes to drive. I’m not even sure riding my bike out there would be possible. I feel guilty that I’m consciously making that choice (the town i work in is not one I could be happy living in), but I’m trying to make up for it in other ways. Justification, I suppose.

I admire you for your committment to bike riding to work! We should all pay attention to our consumption and emission contributions.

Posted by Deb on from NoVa 02/12 at 09:35 AM

Hello Expendables. Pretty nice weather here for February...but snow may be on the way tomorrow.

Speaking of pretexts for war:
http://tinyurl.com/2y295l

Michele and I thought seriously about buying a co-op last year at this time and, to be honest, we’re really glad we didn’t. Here’s hoping Deb and Edson are equally happy with their choices.

RMJ: I didn’t see the Sawyer interview but will scout around places like YouTube to find it.

Finally, Deb mentioned something about having to catch up on Mondays here and, by coincidence, I’m thinking of perhaps not always posting on weekends for that reason. We can continue talking on Friday’s comments board anyway. Not a hard fast rule or policy, but some weekends may not see new posts (it’s not like anyone but me is “doing” Storytelling Saturday anyway). Any thoughts?

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 02/12 at 10:28 AM

deb, i have some good news… you might still be right about not invading iran… they might just nuke it instead.

good article mickey

Posted by michael on from scotland 02/12 at 10:30 AM

Thanks, Michael. How does it feel for you to be back home?

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 02/12 at 10:42 AM

decidedly strange.

i put a little post about it on the blog ;)

Posted by michael on from scotland 02/12 at 10:43 AM

I’m sure I’ve posted this before, but it bears repeating:
"In the 1999 Nato bombing campaign, it was state-owned companies - rather than military sites - that were specifically targeted by the world’s richest nations. Nato only destroyed 14 tanks, but 372 industrial facilities were hit - including the Zastava car plant at Kragujevac, leaving hundreds of thousands jobless. Not one foreign or privately owned factory was bombed.
After the removal of Slobodan Milosevic, the west got the “fast-track” reforming government in Belgrade it had long desired. One of the first steps of the new administration was to repeal the 1997 privatisation law and allow 70% of a company to be sold to foreign investors - with just 15% reserved for workers. The government then signed up to the World Bank’s programmes - effectively ending the country’s financial independence.
Meanwhile, as the New York Times had crowed, “a war’s glittering prize” awaited the conquerors. Kosovo has the second largest coal reserves in Europe, and enormous deposits of lignite, lead, zinc, gold, silver and petroleum."
Neil Clark ‘Spoils of another war’, ZNet

And welcome back Michael

Posted by Mew on from near my bed, hooray! 02/12 at 11:10 AM

I read a similar article about the “displaying of iranian weapons” on nytimes. At least there was a fair amount of skepticism in the articles.

Mickey, I certainly wouldn’t mind if you skipped posting on some weekends, even though I do enjoy reading them (and I do read them, even if I wait until mondays!). I imagine you could use a break sometimes!

michael, you made me laugh at #7. so true!

mew, chilling about the ‘99 bombing, and definitely bears repeating.

Posted by Deb on from NoVa 02/12 at 11:56 AM

I just caught up on the weekend posts myself. I would miss Storytelling Saturday, but I think giving yourself some extra free time is more important, Mick. Also, as you said the Friday comments will continue and anyone with a story can go ahead and post there. That’s just one Expendable’s opinion though.

In other news…

I don’t know where the Cat Lady or Mudge are today, but the reason I couldn’t check in over the weekend is that romance was in the air for yours truly.

Also, I have a poem published here:

http://tinyurl.com/yr526v

Look for the one titled ‘The Singapore Sling.’

Catch you all later.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 02/12 at 01:36 PM

The ABC headline is deceptive. See the interview.

http://tinyurl.com/2cskjn

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 02/12 at 02:20 PM

Thanks, RMJ. Diane Sawyer (the former speechwriter for Nixon) opens with: “Are you sending weapons into Iraq to kill Americans?” She’s a representative of a nation that armed Iraq against Iran (and vice versa) and overthrew the Iranian gov’t in 1953 to install the brutal Shah.

JOS: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, huh? Care to share details? Btw, love the poem. You posted it here a month or so back right?

Mew: Great excerpt. The 1999 NATO bombing is a topic that gets leftists angry at articles like mine. They wanna believe that the U.S. was doing the humanitarian thing and that Clinton was different.

Michael: I agree. All white people do look alike.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 02/12 at 02:30 PM

Hi michael…
JOS...I can’t find your poem. More directions, please. Now you made me have the thought that I hope I have one more Singapore Sling sometime before I die. It has been a lot of years since my last.

Edson...I wish you the best with your adventure.

Mew # 10...a lot of good information there.

Mickey #6… that link is interesting. The U.S. officials now do it while keeping their names secret.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 02/12 at 02:35 PM

This should bring you right there, RMJ:

http://tinyurl.com/2dgznw

Yes, Mick, I posted it on a Storytelling Saturday…

As far as romance goes I have rekindled an old flame. An friend from college...we first met 15 years ago...I was crazy about her the first time I saw her. I am pretty excited about it.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 02/12 at 02:59 PM

hello RMJ

if you are confused by mickeys last comment you need to chack my blog. it was just a little joke.

Posted by michael on from scotland 02/12 at 03:03 PM

Hi everyone. Great work MZ and JOS.

Thanks for the link Rosemarie. Line of the day:

We’re prepared to provide the Americans with intellectual support
---Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

I don’t like him, but (or because) he’s a great politician. He answers every question as though it were the one he wanted to be asked . . . which is fair enough, ‘cause the questions he was asked were so idiotically pointed that he’d have to be as much of a fool as Diane Sawyer to take them at face value.

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 03:53 PM

PS: <a href ="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6353403.stm"target="new">this</a> reminded me of a link Mickey posted a while back (can’t find it now) to Stephen Hawking’s violently stupid remark that humans can only survive by leaving the planet. We’ve so poisoned everything, including (and especially) our thinking, that we’ve taken to radiating our food in outer space to no apparent effect.

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 03:57 PM

...meant to say this. (Bad html! Bad, bad html!)

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 03:59 PM

Keir...That’s a good quote for the day, “...We’ve poisoned everything including, and especially our thinking...”

JOS...I love your Singapore Sling. I have always wanted to go there and your poem made it seem so real. Must be that romance is in the air. You are the second one today who has just found someone. Congrats on the rekindling.

Hillary STILL won’t say she’s sorry, even when the New Hampshire man really worded the question just right. Come on Hillary, just admit that your vote for the war was a mistake. (And if that was a mistake, how many more are in her future.)

FOX Cavvuto is beating up on Joe Kennedy because Joe acknowledged that the oil that he is selling at a discount comes from Chavez. Really make me mad to hear those fat kats who don’t have a clue about how it feels to live in a house that is so cold that the pipes sometimes freeze. Time for me to dig out my old article thanking Chavez.(I feel better now after venting that to the MZ’ers who are here.)

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 02/12 at 04:59 PM

This is kinda funny:

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 02/12 at 05:44 PM

One thing is for sure, Mickey: Australia’s John Howard will go all the way with George W. if the latter decides to bomb Iran or any other country for that matter:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/pm-spoke-his-mind-white-house/2007/02/13/1171128930129.html
Our PM is quite someething, that’s for sure!

‘Hello’, Deb, Rosemarie, Edson Castilho, Michael, Mew, JOS and Keir. As always, I enjoy your and the Cool Observer’s company, especially after 2 days away from the computer - and one learns something new every day.

We are expecting 100F on the coming weekend - and no rain in sight. Whatever rainfall comes down is simply not enough to break the drought.

Ciao expendables.

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 02/12 at 06:00 PM

JOS - So is this… its just crying out for some photoshop work

Posted by michael on from scotland 02/12 at 06:06 PM

I’m not seeing it, michael…

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 02/12 at 06:30 PM

JOS, I’ll give you a hint: it sucks.

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 06:32 PM

Excellent article, Mickey - that would be “War: It’s just a pretext away”. And I would not begrudge you some free time on the weekends either. Now I am going to catch up on Saturday and Sunday’s posts ..

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 02/12 at 06:41 PM

too broad a hint, Keir…

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 02/12 at 06:46 PM

Holy fertilizer, Michael! Someone needs to get a side shot of Dubya at a podium. There was once a Blair poster from the Propaganda Remix Project: “Fancy a sniff of Yank bum? It’s bloody good!”

Re: Yugoslavia: Michael Parenti’s “To Kill A Nation” is challenging but important reading. And the Raczak fraud had UN inspectors fuddled; there were serial claims that ‘There was some killing in the next village,’ etc, but no evidence was ever found, other than the occasional score-evening that goes along with civil disorder. Yugo was also the aggression where Wesley Clark almost started WWIII, short-circuited only by English General Michael Jackson who refused orders (though the op did succeed in permanently addling Hitchens’ booze-soaked cranium).

All this imperial reminiscing is making me hungry for someone else’s land and resources… gotta call Blackwater and get a bid on taking over Rhode Island.

Posted by Zen Prole on from Urth 02/12 at 06:55 PM

Hey JOS: the answer, my friend, is blowin‘ in the wind…

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 07:49 PM

Hey, neither Michael’s image nor Keir’s link works for me...but captcha sez: head.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 02/12 at 07:54 PM

Hey, Congratulations so far, JOS… I thought that there was romance in the air for me here, but then I realized I just needed to change the litter box. Though I might have a date to see the Nader documentary on Friday. Do you think I should go with that, or Ghost Rider? I figured Unreasonable Man will be in theater for less time, so.

captcha says “action”. We’ll see.

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 02/12 at 07:59 PM

I guess it’s not that funny anymore, but I hope this works anyway:
http://tinyurl.com/yqqyd5

Posted by Keir on from the hague 02/12 at 08:22 PM

Hmmm...it’s Fellatio Hornblower.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 02/12 at 08:42 PM

Hola mi amigos.

Great topic, great comments. I fear we will bomb Iran. Yugoslavia is certainly a relevant lesson. Great article. Iraq, you would think, should be recent enough that people would remember the lesson there. Apparently, people either have a very short memory or failed to learn the proper lessons to begin with, because it looks as though there will be an encore with Iran.

As the ABC story clearly exemplifies, the propaganda effort to prep the public for another campaign of violence against a sovereign foreign nation is (and has been) in full effect.

Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei, Taiwan 02/13 at 12:20 AM

http://counterpunch.org/roberts02122007.html
Paul Craig Roberts urges people to
DUMP DOLLARS!

Posted by Atheist on from Berkeley, CA 02/13 at 12:55 AM