Correcting Black
I finally got around to reading the actual Fortune article that provided a stark contrast that I remarked on yesterday. Or, at least, I read most of it. Okay, maybe some of it.
The point being is that while I came to the article ready to absorb the whole thing, I kind of tripped up on a single point that I think needs to be corrected now, and frequently throughout the remainder of the campaign.
Sphere: Related ContentJust Keep Telling Yourself; Foreign Policy Is His Strong Point
So what if McCain mistakenly (or, single handedly appointed) Putin as the president of Germany? At least it was the right quadrant of the planet, right? I mean, really, what’s the big difference between Russia and Germany anyway. They were both our enemies at one point, what more do you really need to know?
Now, if McCain got the PLANET wrong, now THAT would be a gaffe worth mentioning. If he had said that Putin was the president of, say, Mars, now that would be something we would all be well served in jumping up and down over.
More at Memeorandum: Newshoggers.com, Cliff Schecter, PoliGazette and Rising Hegemon
Sphere: Related ContentI Know Who I Want To See Giving The Democratic National Convention Keynote Address
Before I take one step further, let me clear the air on Chuck Hagel. Outside of foreign policy, I could not disagree with him more on just about every issue with perhaps the exception of immigration. Outside of that, Hagel is anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-equal opportunity, anti-most everything I tend to care about.
But on foreign policy, now that is a different story completely.
Sphere: Related ContentLOLPolicy
Sphere: Related ContentPresident Bush feted Israel on Thursday in honor of the 60th anniversary of its founding and predicted that its 120th birthday would find it alongside a Palestinian state and in an all-democratic neighborhood free of today’s oppression, restrictions on freedom and extremist Muslim movements.
[...]
Bush made no acknowledgment of the hardship Palestinians suffered when hundreds of thousands were displaced or otherwise left following the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, a counterpoint to Israel’s two weeks of jubilant celebrations. Though Bush has set a goal of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian deal before the end of his term in January, he did not mention the ongoing negotiations or how to resolve the thorniest disputes.
The president also offered no detail on how the broader Mideast would move from today’s realities to his vision.
“From Cairo and Riyadh to Baghdad and Beirut, people will live in free and independent societies, where a desire for peace is reinforced by ties of diplomacy, tourism and trade,” he said. “Iran and Syria will be peaceful nations, where today’s oppression is a distant memory and people are free to speak their minds and develop their talents. And al-Qaida, Hezbollah and Hamas will be defeated, as Muslims across the region recognize the emptiness of the terrorists’ vision and the injustice of their cause.”
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Bush made such a brief mention of the Palestinians because his purpose was to sketch “broad themes and not the specifics of the process.”
Anatomy of “100 Years”
In a fit of pure irony, the Republican party has been up in arms over something they have turned into fine art. I suppose, what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.
Sphere: Related ContentTaking the Bull by the Horns
Yesterday I put on display two early anti-McCain ads, and yes, they’re both quite well done. But I’m hoping to see some follow ups, both from David Brock and from the Democrats, very soon. And if and when they come, I hope they address the flaws from these two ads.
Sphere: Related ContentFear Monger In Chief
If there’s one certainty in American politics it’s this: The GOP will do anything to paint their opponent as unpatriotic, elite, and, if possible, as a crazy radical we shouldn’t trust in our neighborhood let alone as leader of the nation.
Knowing that it shouldn’t come as any surprise that John McCain has pounced on the World Net Daily interview with Hamas:
“Barack Obama’s foreign policy plans have even won him praise from Hamas leaders,” writes McCain deputy campaign manager Christian Ferry. “Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to the Hamas Prime Minister said, ‘We like Mr. Obama and we hope he will win the election. He has a vision to change America.’”
The McCain fundraising e-mail says Obama’s stands have earned him “kind words” from Hamas. “John McCain’s foreign policy provides a stark contrast to the policies of Barack Obama,” writes Ferry. “While Senator Obama would surrender in Iraq and hold talks with the Iranian regime, John McCain will never surrender in the struggle with Islamic extremists. Please join our campaign today by making a generous donation of $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or $2,300.”
First off, anyone find it humorous how McCain asks for $50 to $2,300 from his donor pool while Obama’s rarely ever asked for more than $25? That alone should tell you something about the respective audiences, but I’ll leave it at that.
Sphere: Related ContentQuote of the Day: Redefining What’s Possible
Sphere: Related ContentAn Unparalleled Legacy
Hey, Defeatocrats: it’s your war now.
Sphere: Related ContentPresident George W. Bush will signal next week that he will pull no more troops out of Iraq while he is president, once his troop surge ends in the summer.
His senior Iraq commander General David Petraeus will use his testimony to congress on Tuesday and Wednesday to argue for continuing political support for the tactics of the surge strategy even after a planned drawdown of troops.
US military chiefs have already committed to reduce the American combat presence in Iraq from 20 to 15 brigades by September. But in what administration officials say is a bid to bind the hands of his successor, Mr Bush will make clear that he will go no further to placate his critics.
“It looks like it will be that far and no further,” said a Pentagon official.
“Any further reductions will have to be made by the next president.”
Breaking The Mindset
If you really want to know what a candidate would do once in office, so says Spencer Ackerman, you have to look at their foreign policy advisers. When one looks at Obama’s foreign policy advisers and what they are attempting to accomplish, one sees incredibly good things.
Sphere: Related Content4,000
At the five year mark, we reach the ominous milestone of 4,000 dead American soldiers in Iraq.
Now, How About That “Experience”?
On top of everything else going on right now, a Freedom of Information Act suit has resulted in the release of about 11,000 pages of White House records detailing Hillary Clinton’s schedule and actions as the First Lady.
For the first time, journalists all over the place get to fina lly dig through at least 8 of the 35 years that Clinton has been selling off as experience in order to judiciously decide if this is valuable experience or not.
Sphere: Related ContentPhyllis Bennis: Obama’s Iran policy stands in contrast to Clinton’s
Phyllis Bennis is a Senior Analyst at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. She is the author of Before and After: US Foreign Policy and the September 11 Crisis and Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power.
Canada Says No to Torture
UPDATE: Jean MacKenzie, the Afghanistan country director for the Institute of War and Peace, has this Op Ed in the NYT about declining security situation in Afghanistan. Then, today, we have this report on American soldiers who unfortunately and mistakenly opened fire on Afghan security forces resulting in the deaths of “at least nine Afghan police officers and a civilian.”
Original Post: In a good news/bad news story, the New York Times reports that the Canadian military has stopped turning over detainees to the Afghanistan government. This was done after Canadian monitors found that prisoners were being tortured and abused.
Good on the Canucks.
The bad news - this is in Afghanistan. This is the place the vast majority of Americans supported invading and engaging in nation building. After more than 6 years, the government we helped establish is torturing and abusing prisoners. This is just another indication that we took our eyes off of Afghanistan and haven’t done the job right.
Shame on us.
Sphere: Related ContentPakistan Update: “This Grotesque Feudal Charade”
The Election Commission has postponed general elections, originally scheduled for January the 8th. Elections are now scheduled to be held on February the 18th, much to the chagrin of opposition leaders:
Read more
Pakistan Update: Of Gunfire, Grassy Knolls and Bumped Heads
The word of the day is ‘conspiracy’. As in ‘conspiracy theories‘. Consider the waters thoroughly muddied:
Sphere: Related ContentAn elusive Taliban leader with links to Al Qaeda is emerging as the key suspect in Thursday’s assassination of Benazir Bhutto, killed as she campaigned for a third term as Pakistan’s prime minister.
Intelligence services in Pakistan and the West yesterday identified Baitullah Mehsud, a 34-year-old pro-Taliban militant commander, as the man behind the plot to kill Bhutto, leader of the popular Pakistan Peoples Party, in the run-up to Jan. 8 elections in the nuclear-armed nation.
Yesterday, Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s Interior Ministry, cited an intercepted telephone conversation between Mehsud and one of his operatives as proof the terrorist organization was responsible.
“We have an intercept from this morning in which he congratulated his people for carrying out this cowardly act,” Cheema said.
“We have irrefutable evidence that Al Qaeda and its networks are trying to destabilize the government,” he added. “They have been systematically attacking our government, and now a political icon.”
Slacker Friday: NIE Miscellania
It’s back and lazier than ever! Alas, this (long belated) edition will have to be the slackest motherfucker ever, since yours truly just got called into work early. Mea culpa–sometimes meatworld obligations have to trump blogging.
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