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TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #700 on: October 27, 2017, 12:32:45 AM »
sidd


Throw in a pinch of Cambridge Analytica's AI and bring to a boil.


Terry

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #701 on: October 28, 2017, 11:29:47 PM »
Seems as though the conspirators are turning on each other.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-28/shocking-viral-interview-qatar-confesses-secrets-behind-syrian-war


The whole Syrian thing now appears to have been an outside job, rather than an uprising against Assad.


Terry

oren

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #702 on: October 29, 2017, 12:14:45 PM »
Seems as though the conspirators are turning on each other.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-28/shocking-viral-interview-qatar-confesses-secrets-behind-syrian-war


The whole Syrian thing now appears to have been an outside job, rather than an uprising against Assad.


Terry
I read it differently. After the uprising started, outside countries intervened (for their own interests) to help the rebels. Massive and persistent uprisings don't start so easily by someone pressing a button.

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #703 on: October 29, 2017, 09:59:04 PM »
Oren


You say potato, I say potatoe.  :)


I've no doubt that the lingering drought, which had caused extreme hardship for many Syrian's, was at the very least responsible for a large portion of the early protests against Assad.
Putting guns in the hands of these protesters, and direction, appears to have been the work of outsiders.
The US, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were all involved, according to Qatar.


Terry

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #704 on: October 30, 2017, 04:33:25 AM »
Iraq in 2003 was a great strategic error on the part of the USA. But looking back i think there were another pair of errors which might turn out to be of greater import in the longer run.

1) NATO expansion and encouragement of colour revolutions on Russian periphery
2) Attempt at Trans Pacific Trade agreement and pivot to asia

The first was seen by Russia and the second by China as against their interest. The USA has now sent the two powers into closer embrace, reversing all the gains made since Nixon.

sidd

wili

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #705 on: October 30, 2017, 05:07:52 AM »
"Iraq in 2003 was a great strategic error..."

Is that all you see it as?
"A force de chercher de bonnes raisons, on en trouve; on les dit; et après on y tient, non pas tant parce qu'elles sont bonnes que pour ne pas se démentir." Choderlos de Laclos "You struggle to come up with some valid reasons, then cling to them, not because they're good, but just to not back down."

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #706 on: October 30, 2017, 07:30:34 PM »
"is that all you see [Iraq,2003] as ?"

Hardly. But I was addressing strategic errors by the USA in my previous post.

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #707 on: October 31, 2017, 05:18:36 AM »
Straight out of Virgil, " ... nec metas rerum, nec tempora pono ... " The next three words in Virgil are " Imperium sine fine."  Tillerson and Mattis are asking for perhaps the same, "Bellum sine fine."

After all war is the health of this empire.

" ... Tillerson and Mattis told the committee that a new war authorization should not have time constraints or geographic constraints."

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/357899-mattis-tillerson-describe-conditions-of-support-for-new-war-authorization

sidd

Rob Dekker

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #708 on: October 31, 2017, 08:18:23 AM »
Seems as though the conspirators are turning on each other.


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-28/shocking-viral-interview-qatar-confesses-secrets-behind-syrian-war


The whole Syrian thing now appears to have been an outside job, rather than an uprising against Assad.


Terry

Terry, I did some fact checking on this claim.
I followed the links in the article, which go via :
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-28/shocking-viral-interview-qatar-confesses-secrets-behind-syrian-war
which links to a " leaked top secret NSA document " which is a link to :
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-10-24/bombshell-nsa-memo-saudi-arabia-ordered-attack-damascus-international-airport-us-kno
which links to a " just released a new top-secret NSA document unearthed from leaked intelligence files provided by Edward Snowden " which links to this article :
https://theintercept.com/2017/10/24/syria-rebels-nsa-saudi-prince-assad
which refers to "According to a top-secret National Security Agency document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden, " which links to this :
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4116277-NSA-Slide-on-Saudi-Ordered-Attack-by-Syrian.html

which is just a few lines that anyone could have made up.
Especially the little pictures on the side suggest it was fabricated.

Where is the beef ?
« Last Edit: October 31, 2017, 08:26:29 AM by Rob Dekker »
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #709 on: October 31, 2017, 06:52:10 PM »
Straight out of Virgil, " ... nec metas rerum, nec tempora pono ... " The next three words in Virgil are " Imperium sine fine."  Tillerson and Mattis are asking for perhaps the same, "Bellum sine fine."

After all war is the health of this empire.

" ... Tillerson and Mattis told the committee that a new war authorization should not have time constraints or geographic constraints."

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/357899-mattis-tillerson-describe-conditions-of-support-for-new-war-authorization

sidd


Now endless war for endless peace,
Has an almost Orwellian tone.
But Gore Vidal, he said it all,
In a manner quite his own.


Not to worry my friends, and some others!
 The Supremes will again have their pick,
   Pence will right all Trump's wrongs,
    But his General's schlongs
Will explode, as they ponder his shtick.


When His EPA has been dismantled,
 Regulations won't dog us again.
  Just the unsteady drip,
   Of the toxin's that slip,
Unseen from the drain to the main.
   
Hallelujah! Pass the Pills!


We came. We saw. He died. HA-HA-HA. - H.R.Clinton's legacy to world literature, Trump's path to Glory!
Terry

Rob Dekker

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #710 on: November 01, 2017, 08:54:52 AM »
Terry said in another thread :
Quote
The Intercept, you may remember it as the voice of Snowden, has a small blurb confirming that the Saudis were advising the US of the attack against Damascus back in 2013, as well as providing 120 tons of explosives and weapons to "Light up Damascus".

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4116277-NSA-Slide-on-Saudi-Ordered-Attack-by-Syrian.html

Amazing how difficult google has become, for some.

Terry, you slime dog.
I found that NSA-Slide-on-Saudi-Ordered-Attack-by-Syrian.html report for you above !!

And I added :
Quote
which is just a few lines that anyone could have made up.
Especially the little pictures on the side suggest it was fabricated.

Where is the beef ?

Are you going to respond to that or will you continue to dig into your own conspiracy theories, and blame others for not knowing how to use Google, while YOU are the one who could not even follow the links in the article you posted ?
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #711 on: November 09, 2017, 03:11:53 AM »
Costs of (some) wars 4.3 trillion. Covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq. Africa doesnt get a mention.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/359501-overseas-wars-have-cost-us-43-trillion-since-2001-report

sidd

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #712 on: November 10, 2017, 11:58:37 PM »
Costs of (some) wars 4.3 trillion. Covers Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Iraq. Africa doesnt get a mention.

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/359501-overseas-wars-have-cost-us-43-trillion-since-2001-report

sidd
A little piece on US involvement in Africa.
https://orientalreview.org/2017/11/08/mission-creep-in-darkest-africa/
Some comparisons to Vietnam  :(
Terry

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #713 on: November 11, 2017, 05:34:44 AM »
Update:  the costs of war are 5.6 trillion thru 2018. Tis of course is just costs for the USA. The brown folk getting bombed have their own costs.

http://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/2017/Costs%20of%20U.S.%20Post-9_11%20NC%20Crawford%20FINAL%20.pdf

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #714 on: November 13, 2017, 08:43:40 AM »
Empire and memory, or rather the lack thereof:

"We should act before the “forever wars” become the forgotten wars."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/how-the-military-is-making-it-hard-to-remember-our-wars/2017/11/10/ff7d6d4e-c324-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #715 on: November 13, 2017, 08:46:09 AM »
Now the storm troopers are stealing and killing each other to cover up. Nice. Mebbe that will keep them too busy to kill africans.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/green-beret-discovered-seals-illicit-cash-then-he-was-killed

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #716 on: November 14, 2017, 07:15:40 AM »
EU has a 23 country defense pact, finally signed since UK obstruction is no longer an issue. Might be the beginning of the end for NATO, but it will be a long haul since NATO pays for too much of the military industrial complex, will take a while to switch to different leeches.

5.8 billion extra over the individual country budgets.  EU has second highest amalgamated military spending after the USA.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-defence/eu-to-sign-defense-pact-may-allow-limited-british-role-idUSKBN1DD0PX

sidd


johnm33

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #717 on: November 14, 2017, 10:09:52 AM »

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #718 on: November 18, 2017, 09:55:34 PM »
The ranks of allies of the empire grows thinner: Panama ditches Taiwan for Chinese money.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-panama/after-ditching-taiwan-china-says-panama-will-get-the-help-it-needs-idUSKBN1DH1FZ

sidd

Rob Dekker

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #719 on: November 27, 2017, 07:17:37 AM »
EU has a 23 country defense pact, finally signed since UK obstruction is no longer an issue. Might be the beginning of the end for NATO, but it will be a long haul since NATO pays for too much of the military industrial complex, will take a while to switch to different leeches.

5.8 billion extra over the individual country budgets.  EU has second highest amalgamated military spending after the USA.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-defence/eu-to-sign-defense-pact-may-allow-limited-british-role-idUSKBN1DD0PX

sidd

From the link :

Quote
Unlike past attempts, the U.S.-led NATO alliance backs the project, aiming to benefit from stronger militaries.

So, no. It may be disappointing to Putin apologists and alt-right advocates, this is not going to end NATO. In fact, since it makes 23 of its member stronger, it may make NATO stronger as well.
As it should. Since the end of NATO will be the end of world peace.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

Rob Dekker

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #720 on: November 29, 2017, 04:44:49 AM »
Why Japan has gun-related deaths in the single digits, while in the US we suffer 33,000 deaths by guns each year :

https://www.facebook.com/actdottv/videos/712971998893369/
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #721 on: November 29, 2017, 09:19:33 PM »
Why Japan has gun-related deaths in the single digits, while in the US we suffer 33,000 deaths by guns each year :

https://www.facebook.com/actdottv/videos/712971998893369/


I'll bite, but I won't give facebook any more of my information than they already have. Cambridge Analytica, and all that.


Why don't the citizens of a country that was the victim of two atomic bomb attacks, kill each other and show the same disdain for human life that the citizens of the country responsible for the attacks exhibits?


Terry

Rob Dekker

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #722 on: December 01, 2017, 05:16:14 AM »
Or maybe it just has to do with the US's love affair with guns.
This is our planet. This is our time.
Let's not waste either.

ivica

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sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #724 on: December 07, 2017, 05:27:17 AM »

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #725 on: January 05, 2018, 12:35:20 AM »
Engelhardt on Forever Wars:

"A glance at the map tells you that the war on terror, an increasingly complex set of intertwined conflicts, is now a remarkably global phenomenon.  It stretches from the Philippines (with its own ISIS-branded group that just fought an almost five-month-long campaign that devastated Marawi, a city of 300,000) through South Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and deep into West Africa ..."

" ... the Costs of War Project identifies no less than 76 countries, 39% of those on the planet, as involved in that global conflict.  That means places like Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya where U.S. drone or other air strikes are the norm and U.S. ground troops (often Special Operations forces) have been either directly or indirectly engaged in combat.  It also means countries where U.S. advisers are training local militaries or even militias in counterterror tactics and those with bases crucial to this expanding set of conflicts ... "

" ... the Costs of War Project estimated that the price tag on the war on terror (with some future expenses included) had already reached an astronomical $5.6 trillion."

" American Special Operations forces were deployed to 149 countries in 2017 alone and the U.S. has so many troops on so many bases in so many places on Earth that the Pentagon can’t even account for the whereabouts of 44,000 of them. "

Nice map. Read all about it:

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176369/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_seeing_our_wars_for_the_first_time

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #726 on: January 08, 2018, 07:24:23 AM »
USA cuts off bribes to Pakistan, Pakistan looks to China:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pakistan-aid/u-s-suspends-at-least-900-million-in-security-aid-to-pakistan-idUSKBN1ET2DX

https://www.dawn.com/news/1381472/pakistan-seeks-clarification-from-us-over-placement-on-special-watch-list

https://www.dawn.com/news/1378744

"For Pakistan, the rupee-yuan settlement of trade with China is important because “it would reduce our needs for US dollars to a significant extent as our imports from China are in excess of $10bn”, explains a central banker."

sidd

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #727 on: January 08, 2018, 08:54:21 AM »
USA cuts off bribes to Pakistan, Pakistan looks to China:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pakistan-aid/u-s-suspends-at-least-900-million-in-security-aid-to-pakistan-idUSKBN1ET2DX

https://www.dawn.com/news/1381472/pakistan-seeks-clarification-from-us-over-placement-on-special-watch-list

https://www.dawn.com/news/1378744

"For Pakistan, the rupee-yuan settlement of trade with China is important because “it would reduce our needs for US dollars to a significant extent as our imports from China are in excess of $10bn”, explains a central banker."

sidd
Another little chip off the block. :(
I'm not convinced that the Chinese can't and won't be able to replace America as Pakistan's Big Brother, both financially and militarily.
This may prove to be the norm at many of the New Silk Road sidings. As China becomes the dominant trade partner for at least those countries along the NSR, it only makes sense for the yuan to be swapped directly with the local currency eliminating American transaction fees and oversight.
America's insistence that America's laws be followed by all using their currency may also prompt other nations to abandon the dollar whenever they feel that they can.
The days when American dollars were required to purchase oil are over. Russia, Iran and possibly Venezuela have large volumes of petroleum products that can be purchased in yuan or Rubles. Neither of these currencies carry the huge debt load of the American Dollar.
Terry

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #728 on: January 10, 2018, 08:38:07 PM »
China reconsiders buying US Treasuries:

"Senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries ..."

"The market for U.S. government bonds is becoming less attractive relative to other assets, and trade tensions with the U.S. may provide a reason to slow or stop buying American debt ... "

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-10/china-officials-are-said-to-view-treasuries-as-less-attractive

sidd

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #729 on: January 10, 2018, 09:45:59 PM »
China reconsiders buying US Treasuries:

"Senior government officials in Beijing reviewing the nation’s foreign-exchange holdings have recommended slowing or halting purchases of U.S. Treasuries ..."

"The market for U.S. government bonds is becoming less attractive relative to other assets, and trade tensions with the U.S. may provide a reason to slow or stop buying American debt ... "

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-10/china-officials-are-said-to-view-treasuries-as-less-attractive

sidd


OOOOUUUUCCCCHHHH
What funds I have are all in American Dollars.


As long as the Canadian Loonie sinks faster than it's American counterpart I suppose I'll be OK, but lets hope this was all just schoolyard talk. :o
Everyone want's to hold American Treasuries right.


Terry

Alexander555

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #730 on: January 10, 2018, 10:03:21 PM »
The interest is going down for almost 40 years. This is probably the worst moment to hold bonds or treasuries. And stock prices and real-estate prices are high. All the result of that zero interest rate policy.

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #731 on: January 10, 2018, 11:02:15 PM »
It appears the moment has passed and the auction went off without a hitch.


Still, a moment to consider dumping American stocks and Real Estate and aligning my income more with the Canadian economy.
I've never applied for Social Security, and at 71 there are no further monetary incentives not to do so. I just hate dealing with American Bureaucracies.  >:(


Terry

SteveMDFP

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #732 on: January 11, 2018, 06:07:27 PM »
Right now, the Federal Reserve is slowly selling off it's $4 trillion in assets, an action which will tend to contract the money supply, slowly raise interest rates, and cause the dollar to appreciate in value.

The European Central Bank, meanwhile, is adding to it's assets, an action which will tend to expand the money supply, suppress interest rates, and cause the Euro to depreciate in value.

Actual currency exchange rates depend on many factors other than these actions, so predictions about relative values are not reliable.

Still, I'd be more comfortable holding savings in dollars than euros at the moment.  A bit of both, diversity, might be prudent.

Note that these asset holdings are, macro-economically, equivalent to a sovereign wealth fund.  When viewing the debt of the US government, the Federal Reserve holdings should be subtracted from the Treasury debt.

This is true because the income to the Federal Reserve is remitted to the Treasury, after subtracting operating expenses.

Alexander555

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #733 on: January 11, 2018, 07:50:07 PM »
It appears the moment has passed and the auction went off without a hitch.


Still, a moment to consider dumping American stocks and Real Estate and aligning my income more with the Canadian economy.
I've never applied for Social Security, and at 71 there are no further monetary incentives not to do so. I just hate dealing with American Bureaucracies.  >:(


Terry


It's not for sure that Canadian real-estate is better. Last week there was an article in The Economist about the canadian real-estate market. There is some kind of legal structure in canada that provides 100 % anonymity for companies. Many criminals from all across the planet use that canadian market for money laundering. And nobody knows who's behind these companies. That is extra demand that can disappear any moment. And prices have been going up fast for a long time. And debt levels among the population are very high.

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #734 on: January 15, 2018, 06:32:01 AM »
Nibbled to death. A billion here, a billion there, soon you're talking real money.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-southkorea-wto/south-korea-seeks-trade-sanctions-on-us-as-disputes-pile-up-idUKKBN1F121H

solar panels is in there from india and S. Korea too.

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #735 on: January 22, 2018, 07:11:13 AM »
Killing the kids, breaking the army. Not mentioned is guttig the VA.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/were-killing-these-kids-were-breaking-the-army/

Well, these days in late imperium, like the Trumperor said: they knew what they were in for, they volunteered.

and the reasons for death of legionnaires and victims spelled out by soulless men:

https://original.antiwar.com/Edward_Hunt/2018/01/21/rare-glimpse-inner-workings-american-empire-middle-east/

https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/17-12-14-us-policy-and-strategy-in-the-middle-east

sidd

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #736 on: January 29, 2018, 07:24:55 AM »
Sjursen points out that the generals fighting "generational" wars are all too young to have experienced Vietnam. He makes another point, that the generals read the wrong books. Would that it were so easily cured, there are reasons why they read the wrong books.

But rather good on the whole, I thought.

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176378/tomgram%3A_danny_sjursen%2C_wrong_on_nam%2C_wrong_on_terror/

sidd

JimD

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #737 on: January 29, 2018, 06:59:45 PM »
Sjursen was on the 'path' for a time following the likes of Petraeus as a young officer with a future star on his soldier.  But his intellect and conscience would not allow him to speak lies as they did.  Unlike them he had the advantage of actually 'being' a combat soldier as well.  The vaunted Petraeus (who was a Major General before he was ever deployed to a combat zone) has never been in combat.

Anyone in his position who writes to exonerate the military from blame and to lay the blame of their failure on the civilian world, whether we speak of Vietnam (which was never winable) or the Global War on Terror (which is not winable either), is destined for that star.  But to speak counter to that and to describe their failures in the past and their on-going mismanagement is career suicide.

I am sure his superiors despise him and he is parked as far away as they can find a place to put him.  He is most likely waiting to be eligible for retirement so he can move into the academic world alongside others who bring light to the chaos like Andrew Bacevich. 

Quote
For a while there, I was a real star. High up in my class at West Point, tough combat deployments in two wars, a slew of glowing evaluations, even a teaching assignment back at the military academy. I inhabited a universe most only dream of: praised, patted and highly respected by everyone in my life system and viewed as a brave American soldier. It’s a safe, sensible spot. For most, that’s enough. Too bad it was all bunk. Absurdity incarnate.

The truth is, I fought for next to nothing, for a country that, in recent conflicts, has made the world a deadlier, more chaotic place. Even back in 2011—or even 2006, for that matter—I was just smart and just sensitive enough to know that, to feel it viscerally.

Still, the decision to publicly dissent is a tough one. It’s by no means easy. Easy would be to go on playing hero and accepting adulation while staying between the lines. Play it safe, stick to your own, make everyone proud. That’s easy, intellectually immature—the new American way.....

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/officers-path-dissent/
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

JimD

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #738 on: February 15, 2018, 11:50:32 PM »
Lest anyone get confused and think that the Democrats are interested in any thing much different than what the Republicans are here is a little tidbit from 2016.

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The Obama Administration Has Brokered More Weapons Sales Than Any Other Administration Since World War II

Obama doubled what the Bush II administration approved.  Who again was his Secretary of State?

https://www.thenation.com/article/the-obama-administration-has-sold-more-weapons-than-any-other-administration-since-world-war-ii/

http://www.defenseone.com/business/2016/11/obamas-final-arms-export-tally-more-doubles-bushs/133014/

Trump is well intentioned, of course, with his upping the ante by increasing the Defense Budget by about 80 billion a year.  But give him a break as I am sure he is just getting started.  After all he does not even have his own war yet and Hillary had 2 and she was not even president.

Go Team!
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

JimD

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #739 on: February 16, 2018, 12:06:30 AM »
Just in case it slipped your mind.

The US defense budget for FY 2019 is ....$886 Billion

This is what failing empires do.  They double down on the military to try and hold onto the decaying empire.

Don't think for a second they are not going to use it also.

https://www.thebalance.com/u-s-military-budget-components-challenges-growth-3306320

The US budget is greater than that of the next 9 biggest defense budgets put together.  And only Russia and China among them can be considered adversaries.  And theirs total approx $280 billion.  Russia's is less than 1/10th that of the US and we run around so scared of them.  Go figure.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-11-11/10-countries-with-the-largest-military-budgets
We do not err because truth is difficult to see. It is visible at a glance. We err because this is more comfortable. Alexander Solzhenitsyn

How is it conceivable that all our technological progress - our very civilization - is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal? Albert Einstein

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #740 on: February 18, 2018, 06:52:04 AM »
Anand Gopal, who has intimate experience with the forever wars, interviewed on Afghanistan:

"It’s a lot less costly to continue this civil war in perpetuity than to take the risk of a negotiated settlement with the Taliban ... "

https://jacobinmag.com/2017/08/afghanistan-war-trump-taliban-insurgency-obama-biden

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #741 on: February 18, 2018, 08:08:58 AM »
...

SteveMDFP

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #742 on: February 18, 2018, 04:17:56 PM »
Anand Gopal, who has intimate experience with the forever wars, interviewed on Afghanistan:

"It’s a lot less costly to continue this civil war in perpetuity than to take the risk of a negotiated settlement with the Taliban ... "

https://jacobinmag.com/2017/08/afghanistan-war-trump-taliban-insurgency-obama-biden

sidd

Great article!  He explains the situation clearly, and explains why Afghanistan is such an intractable problem.  As with Vietnam, the most tragic losers are the people of the country.  There is no military solution here, for anyone.
Trumps new policy, suspending aid to Pakistan, might just lead to similar civil war in that country.  If anyone thought that N Korea having nukes was intolerable, wait until an established nuclear state falls into civil war.

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #743 on: February 19, 2018, 02:11:46 AM »
Play nice, or we'll bring you democracy:

--
When asked whether the U.S. interferes in other countries’ elections, James Woolsey said, “Well, only for a very good cause in the interests of democracy."
--

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/374372-ex-cia-director-us-meddles-in-foreign-elections-for-a-good

here's a good cause story:

https://www.modernghana.com/news/363669/1/the-cia-kwame-nkrumah-and-the-destruction-of-ghana.html

sidd

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“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.”
― Leon C. Megginson

Neven

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #745 on: March 09, 2018, 06:41:25 PM »
The enemy is within
Don't confuse me with him

E. Smith

TerryM

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #746 on: March 09, 2018, 09:11:12 PM »
It was not a Russian who "unsigned" the global SALT treaty.


There is no American voice urging a return to arms limitation agreements.


The above linked discussion should be heard by every American that watches TV News. It's what your media is not talking about.
Terry

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #747 on: March 18, 2018, 01:47:37 AM »
Over on another thread, the question was raised: who benefits from destabilized relations between UK-USA and Russia ? I'd like to explore that question and and a related one here.

Clearly, one beneficiary is the worldwide arms business. Another might be China as the Russians turn to alternate routes for money and goods.

The other, perhaps more interesting question is, who loses from destabilized relations ? Russia and the USA-UK block certainly, but is there a downside for China ?

sidd

SteveMDFP

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #748 on: March 18, 2018, 02:49:27 AM »
Over on another thread, the question was raised: who benefits from destabilized relations between UK-USA and Russia ? I'd like to explore that question and and a related one here.

Clearly, one beneficiary is the worldwide arms business. Another might be China as the Russians turn to alternate routes for money and goods.

The other, perhaps more interesting question is, who loses from destabilized relations ? Russia and the USA-UK block certainly, but is there a downside for China ?

sidd

Interesting question.  I gather your question is about who would benefit who is also in a position to stoke tensions. 

I don't think *instability* is of much benefit to any wealthy/powerful interests.  Nobody want to end up in a radioactive wasteland, not even a billionaire in a New Zealand bunker. 

However, stable heightened tensions would benefit a few interests.  Not so much China as Saudi Arabia.  The Saudis need high oil prices almost as much as Russia does.  Sanctions on the Russian petroleum industry help to bolster oil prices for Saudi oil sales. 

China thrives mostly as manufacturer to the world.  Geopolitical tensions just aren't great for free global trade.  Tensions lead to protectionist steps to preserve strategic domestic industries.  A country fearing attack needs its own domestic steel industry, for example.  More British steel production means fewer Chinese steel sales.

And of course, the US military-industrial complex.  Stable heightened tensions and proxy wars are how they make their money.

sidd

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Re: Empire - America and the future
« Reply #749 on: March 18, 2018, 04:03:57 AM »
"I gather your question is about who would benefit who is also in a position to stoke tensions. "

No, I did not intend to limit those questions to only those in a position to influence relations betwwn the UK-USA and Russia.

sidd