A Few Things that Piss Me Off
News is often debate masquerading as information. Debate is not, in and of itself, information. Although some prefer information and facts, we have been treated to an ever-increasing diet of blathering on, posturing around and obfuscating of the story of the day. A document is revealed, two sides debate its contents. It pisses me off. News outlets can say definitively what the document says. There are some things about which debate is merely a way of hiding from the obvious...a delay tactic...a PR move designed to obscure the only logical conclusion.
The news should not primarily be about debating a story...it should be about news gathering and story telling. It should be informational, not a persuasive attack.
That's the first thing that pisses me off.
The following have also been nagging at me for some time, a few are more recent annoyances.
1. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is...about OIL! How can there be any debate on this? Iraq had the second largest oil reserves in the world, Cheney's Energy Commission pored over oil maps of Iraq, the Saudis have a huge interest in that oil not flooding the market and, thus, keeping their profits high...as do the big oil companies who, not coincidentally, have had nothing but record profits since the invasion. When White House mouthpiece Ari Fleischer held the first post-invasion press conference he announced that "Operation Iraq Liberation had begun"...get it? O.I.L. You can't make this shit up...I've seen the videotape. These guys love acronyms. Remember George warning Iraqis against attacking the oil infrastructure? Remember the oil fields being guarded right off the bat? See, the problem is that the oil is not flowing out of Iraq. If it's about oil, why isn't it flowing, right? Because of artificial scarcity. Oil prices have been inflated by the invasion, ensuing chaos and the end of the Oil for Food program. Two primary beneficiaries are the Saudis and oil companies...and boy have they made bank off this. And one final note...had Saddam been certified WMD-free, as we now know he essentially was, he would've been able to open his oil fields, drive down prices and profits for you know who, might have made good on his threat to trade oil in euros instead of dollars and the privatization of Iraq oil fields--which has quietly been going on since Paul Bremer went it---wouldn't have happened. That oil will be hitting the market...all in good time.
2. We are never leaving Iraq. Never. Get used to it. All this crap about exit strategies, handing over Iraq once it' a democracy...all utter bullshit. Has anyone read "Rebuilding America's Defenses" by the Project for a New American Century? C'mon you jerks...read it. They write that regime is a pretext for establishing a permanent military presence in Iraq. We are building permanent bases around the country, and ominously on the border with Iran. This Administration doesn't have an exit strategy...not out of incompetence...but because they never planned to leave. Wake up!
3. And on this whole incompetence theory...they are not incompetent. The incompetence was mostly in the news media and the Congress for buying the obvious BS of being welcomed with flowers, of only costing the US $1.5 billion, of WMD's and nuclear programs and Saddam's connection to 9/11. I didn't buy it. Many in the alternative media...those who read and investigated and read overseas sources...they didn't buy it. These guys knew there were no WMDs...which is why they had such a hard-on for invasion...they had to invade before Saddam could get the sanctions lifted and begin pumping his oil at full capacity. Plus, Saddam would remain in power and his oil fields would remain a nationalized asset...not privatized into the hands of President Gas' supporters. They sold us all a pack of lies. Admit it.
4. Rumsfeld and Cheney knew it was torture, they authorized it...documents have been a fairly clear paper trail...even though the documents in question only got mentioned during one news cycle last year. It is torture.
5. They are spying on Americans, collecting data and tracking potential enemies...and I'm not talking about Infidel Arabs who wants to kill us because we are free. First, it was the Total Information Awareness Network under Iran-Contra criminal John Poindexter. That got changed, privatized and handed over, in part, to Florida election voter purger Choice Point. Now we have the NSA wiretapping. And the FBI announces that PETA and other groups are being tracked. And, like a shooting star, was a one-day story last week about the Pentagon's TALON program, which was tracking anti-war activists, among others, and collecting information like license plate numbers, automobile model and type info...and generally tracking those Americans who oppose the Administration's war policies. They went to anti-recruiting meetings, small citizens' meetings...and the story got pushed off the page by the NSA thing. I think TALON is a bigger scandal...which is perhaps why it disappeared.
6. Hey...didya hear? We were tracking Mohammed Atta a year-plus before 9-11 and we suspected he was a terrorist cell leader. Oh...sorry, I guess that's not really the sort of thing that'd start a Goddamn scandal, or anything. Or the FBI living with two other hijackers in San Diego...naw...forget about it.
7. No broadcast story about Avian Flu and Tamiflu ever mentions that Don Rumsfeld was chair of Gilead Sciences--the patent holder--when they came up with the drug, a drug that had been a huge bust financially. Now taxpayers are buying millions of doses and stockholder Rummy is going to make bank. Oh, Rummy was chair of Searle when they got the FDA to certify aspartame...funny how this guy is so big into pharmaceuticals.
8. I'm sick and tired the incompetence thing...I know, I mentioned it already...but let's get over it. They are spending $100s of millions on propaganda/psychological warfare operations in Iraq and around the world. I know...I'm working on that story right now. And they used the same techniques here--buying Armstrong Williams, and others to write pieces, creating fake news stories about their Medicare reform and prescription drug plan, selling us a war on intelligence that people with the CIA, the FBI and the Dept. Energy knew and said was crap...but they were ignored and, in some cases, ordered to keep their mouths shut. The only intelligence failure is on the part of the media and the American people.
Whew...thank you. Good night, and good luck.
The news should not primarily be about debating a story...it should be about news gathering and story telling. It should be informational, not a persuasive attack.
That's the first thing that pisses me off.
The following have also been nagging at me for some time, a few are more recent annoyances.
1. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is...about OIL! How can there be any debate on this? Iraq had the second largest oil reserves in the world, Cheney's Energy Commission pored over oil maps of Iraq, the Saudis have a huge interest in that oil not flooding the market and, thus, keeping their profits high...as do the big oil companies who, not coincidentally, have had nothing but record profits since the invasion. When White House mouthpiece Ari Fleischer held the first post-invasion press conference he announced that "Operation Iraq Liberation had begun"...get it? O.I.L. You can't make this shit up...I've seen the videotape. These guys love acronyms. Remember George warning Iraqis against attacking the oil infrastructure? Remember the oil fields being guarded right off the bat? See, the problem is that the oil is not flowing out of Iraq. If it's about oil, why isn't it flowing, right? Because of artificial scarcity. Oil prices have been inflated by the invasion, ensuing chaos and the end of the Oil for Food program. Two primary beneficiaries are the Saudis and oil companies...and boy have they made bank off this. And one final note...had Saddam been certified WMD-free, as we now know he essentially was, he would've been able to open his oil fields, drive down prices and profits for you know who, might have made good on his threat to trade oil in euros instead of dollars and the privatization of Iraq oil fields--which has quietly been going on since Paul Bremer went it---wouldn't have happened. That oil will be hitting the market...all in good time.
2. We are never leaving Iraq. Never. Get used to it. All this crap about exit strategies, handing over Iraq once it' a democracy...all utter bullshit. Has anyone read "Rebuilding America's Defenses" by the Project for a New American Century? C'mon you jerks...read it. They write that regime is a pretext for establishing a permanent military presence in Iraq. We are building permanent bases around the country, and ominously on the border with Iran. This Administration doesn't have an exit strategy...not out of incompetence...but because they never planned to leave. Wake up!
3. And on this whole incompetence theory...they are not incompetent. The incompetence was mostly in the news media and the Congress for buying the obvious BS of being welcomed with flowers, of only costing the US $1.5 billion, of WMD's and nuclear programs and Saddam's connection to 9/11. I didn't buy it. Many in the alternative media...those who read and investigated and read overseas sources...they didn't buy it. These guys knew there were no WMDs...which is why they had such a hard-on for invasion...they had to invade before Saddam could get the sanctions lifted and begin pumping his oil at full capacity. Plus, Saddam would remain in power and his oil fields would remain a nationalized asset...not privatized into the hands of President Gas' supporters. They sold us all a pack of lies. Admit it.
4. Rumsfeld and Cheney knew it was torture, they authorized it...documents have been a fairly clear paper trail...even though the documents in question only got mentioned during one news cycle last year. It is torture.
5. They are spying on Americans, collecting data and tracking potential enemies...and I'm not talking about Infidel Arabs who wants to kill us because we are free. First, it was the Total Information Awareness Network under Iran-Contra criminal John Poindexter. That got changed, privatized and handed over, in part, to Florida election voter purger Choice Point. Now we have the NSA wiretapping. And the FBI announces that PETA and other groups are being tracked. And, like a shooting star, was a one-day story last week about the Pentagon's TALON program, which was tracking anti-war activists, among others, and collecting information like license plate numbers, automobile model and type info...and generally tracking those Americans who oppose the Administration's war policies. They went to anti-recruiting meetings, small citizens' meetings...and the story got pushed off the page by the NSA thing. I think TALON is a bigger scandal...which is perhaps why it disappeared.
6. Hey...didya hear? We were tracking Mohammed Atta a year-plus before 9-11 and we suspected he was a terrorist cell leader. Oh...sorry, I guess that's not really the sort of thing that'd start a Goddamn scandal, or anything. Or the FBI living with two other hijackers in San Diego...naw...forget about it.
7. No broadcast story about Avian Flu and Tamiflu ever mentions that Don Rumsfeld was chair of Gilead Sciences--the patent holder--when they came up with the drug, a drug that had been a huge bust financially. Now taxpayers are buying millions of doses and stockholder Rummy is going to make bank. Oh, Rummy was chair of Searle when they got the FDA to certify aspartame...funny how this guy is so big into pharmaceuticals.
8. I'm sick and tired the incompetence thing...I know, I mentioned it already...but let's get over it. They are spending $100s of millions on propaganda/psychological warfare operations in Iraq and around the world. I know...I'm working on that story right now. And they used the same techniques here--buying Armstrong Williams, and others to write pieces, creating fake news stories about their Medicare reform and prescription drug plan, selling us a war on intelligence that people with the CIA, the FBI and the Dept. Energy knew and said was crap...but they were ignored and, in some cases, ordered to keep their mouths shut. The only intelligence failure is on the part of the media and the American people.
Whew...thank you. Good night, and good luck.
posted by Josophist at 4:31 PM
1 Comments:
Howard Roberts
A Seven-point plan for an Exit Strategy in Iraq
1) A timetable for the complete withdrawal of American and British forces must be announced.
I envision the following procedure, but suitable fine-tuning can be applied by all the people involved.
A) A ceasefire should be offered by the Occupying side to representatives of both the Sunni insurgency and the Shiite community. These representatives would be guaranteed safe passage, to any meetings. The individual insurgency groups would designate who would attend.
At this meeting a written document declaring a one-month ceasefire, witnessed by a United Nations authority, will be fashioned and eventually signed. This document will be released in full, to all Iraqi newspapers, the foreign press, and the Internet.
B) US and British command will make public its withdrawal, within sixth-months of 80 % of their troops.
C) Every month, a team of United Nations observers will verify the effectiveness of the ceasefire.
All incidences on both sides will be reported.
D) Combined representative armed forces of both the Occupying nations and the insurgency organizations that agreed to the cease fire will protect the Iraqi people from actions by terrorist cells.
E) Combined representative armed forces from both the Occupying nations and the insurgency organizations will begin creating a new military and police force. Those who served, without extenuating circumstances, in the previous Iraqi military or police, will be given the first option to serve.
F) After the second month of the ceasefire, and thereafter, in increments of 10-20% ,a total of 80% will be withdrawn, to enclaves in Qatar and Bahrain. The governments of these countries will work out a temporary land-lease housing arrangement for these troops. During the time the troops will be in these countries they will not stand down, and can be re-activated in the theater, if both the chain of the command still in Iraq, the newly formed Iraqi military, the leaders of the insurgency, and two international ombudsman (one from the Arab League, one from the United Nations), as a majority, deem it necessary.
G) One-half of those troops in enclaves will leave three-months after they arrive, for the United States or other locations, not including Iraq.
H) The other half of the troops in enclaves will leave after six-months.
I) The remaining 20 % of the Occupying troops will, during this six month interval, be used as peace-keepers, and will work with all the designated organizations, to aid in reconstruction and nation-building.
J) After four months they will be moved to enclaves in the above mentioned countries.
They will remain, still active, for two month, until their return to the States, Britain and the other involved nations.
2) At the beginning of this period the United States will file a letter with the Secretary General of the Security Council of the United Nations, making null and void all written and proscribed orders by the CPA, under R. Paul Bremer. This will be announced and duly noted.
3) At the beginning of this period all contracts signed by foreign countries will be considered in abeyance until a system of fair bidding, by both Iraqi and foreign countries, will be implemented ,by an interim Productivity and Investment Board, chosen from pertinent sectors of the Iraqi economy.
Local representatives of the 18 provinces of Iraq will put this board together, in local elections.
4) At the beginning of this period, the United Nations will declare that Iraq is a sovereign state again, and will be forming a Union of 18 autonomous regions. Each region will, with the help of international experts, and local bureaucrats, do a census as a first step toward the creation of a municipal government for all 18 provinces. After the census, a voting roll will be completed. Any group that gets a list of 15% of the names on this census will be able to nominate a slate of representatives. When all the parties have chosen their slates, a period of one-month will be allowed for campaigning.
Then in a popular election the group with the most votes will represent that province.
When the voters choose a slate, they will also be asked to choose five individual members of any of the slates.
The individuals who have the five highest vote counts will represent a National government.
This whole process, in every province, will be watched by international observers as well as the local bureaucrats.
During this process of local elections, a central governing board, made up of United Nations, election governing experts, insurgency organizations, US and British peacekeepers, and Arab league representatives, will assume the temporary duties of administering Baghdad, and the central duties of governing.
When the ninety representatives are elected they will assume the legislative duties of Iraq for two years.
Within three months the parties that have at least 15% of the representatives will nominate candidates for President and Prime Minister.
A national wide election for these offices will be held within three months from their nomination.
The President and the Vice President and the Prime Minister will choose their cabinet, after the election.
5) All debts accrued by Iraq will be rescheduled to begin payment, on the principal after one year, and on the interest after two years. If Iraq is able to handle another loan during this period she should be given a grace period of two years, from the taking of the loan, to comply with any structural adjustments.
6) The United States and the United Kingdom shall pay Iraq reparations for its invasion in the total of 120 billion dollars over a period of twenty years for damages to its infrastructure. This money can be defrayed as investment, if the return does not exceed 6.5 %.
7) During the beginning period Saddam Hussein and any other prisoners who are deemed by a Council of Iraqi Judges, elected by the National representative body, as having committed crimes will be put up for trial.
The trial of Saddam Hussein will be before seven judges, chosen from this Council of Judges.
One judge, one jury, again chosen by this Council, will try all other prisoners.
All defendants will have the right to present any evidence they want, and to choose freely their own lawyers.
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