December 2006

NASA announces plan to establish permanent moon space base. This is the most stupid and criminal waste of resources. Most scientists agree. Like US illegal and immoral war misadventures,it is a politically motivated distraction from more pressing mundane domestic social and international issues. When humanity is ready to pursue such adventures, it should be a cooperative venture among all nations.Every nation could contribute something,however small, because the real benefits will be the bonding of humanity,not the raising of a national flag. But primary money and technological contributors would be the US,EU, Russia, China ,Japan and India.

Iraq: Business as Usual: Gates is Rumsfeld in a different suit. Baker Report--- nothing but the obvious,nothing new,Bush to interpret and implement (ie.ignore) and "full speed ahead"; Democrats posture much but legislatively demand no major changes in Bush Iraq policy---just feast off administration failures in buildup to 2008; The Iraq war was illegal,immoral,and unnecessary.Bush,the Congress, and the public are complicit and bear various amounts of the blame. It was wrong and there was never a way to make it right.Militarily it is a lost cause,as it should be. Academic studies (Johns Hopkins Univ.)attribute about 650,000 Iraqi deaths above that if there was no war. Americans should be forever ashamed (akin to the Germans and Japanese for WW2). Just leave! It can easily be done in 6 months. Apologize profusely. Continue to provide billions in reconstruction funds for many years. If honest,call it war reparations. Support any Iraqi emergent government and UN missions.Impeach and imprison administration officials for treasonous misrepresentation of buildup to war information as preventative measure against the next misadventure.

President Jimmy Carter's new book, "Palestine, Peace,Not Apartheid', is a courageous book by a top USA politician, that tells the truth: Israel is stealing Palestinian land and that is the basic cause of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.US unqualified support for Israel is the chief cause the US has little credibility in the Mideast--along with Iraq war.

Ex-Chilean dictator Pinochet dies: Henry Kissinger has been a key adviser to Bush. Kissinger and the US supported the Pinochet overthrow of the democratically elected government of Allende in Chile .Kissinger as quoted at that time:

'The coup was supported by the U.S. government. Henry Kissinger, national security adviser and U.S. secretary of state, summed up the policy this way:

"I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its own people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." ', as sourced in Ask Kissinger About Pinochet's Regime.

Update/North Korea: The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)( that North Korea has withdrawn from ) objective (and non-proliferation objectives in general whether with NPT signatories or not) is to promote situations in which it is in the interests of all states to not have nuclear weapons.It's purpose (contrary to what US foreign policy indicates) is not to "fool", cajole, pressure, or "con" sovereign nations into signing, and then capitalize on their relative weakness to impose US foreign policy goals (such as regime change).That is, the US attempts to utilize NPT to reduce a sovereign nation's security. Well, this is patently obviously counter to the incentive to join NPT, and any responsible (interpreted "non-stupid") nation under aggressive threat from a superpower such as the US (such as North Korea) would in their own interests "dump" NPT and develop nuclear deterrents (assumning they have the ability,which North Korea obviously has). This is exactly what North Korea has done.Now that the 6-party talks are due to restart,what can we expect? Nothing.Why? The US sticks by its "con-job" mentality of requiring North Korea to dismantle it's minimal nuclear deterrent,before implementing the necessary economic improvements, and concrete security initiatives, that will make North Korea feel secure and without the need for a nuclear deterrent.That will take many years if not decades.So what? As long as North Korea agrees to "freeze" their nuclear weapons programs ( not necessarily to let wither,or not work on,but merely not to advance the weaponization) subject to IAEA inspection, then other nations would not have to fear North Korean nuclear weapons,North Korea would feel secure and would have no incentive to disrupt their eceonomic recovery, and eventually they would feel secure having a robust nuclear weaponization capability (a la Japan) without any (or very few) actual weapons,so that it could rapidly generate them should a rogue superpower change its policy and decide it had not really given up regime change. A good deal!---considering the unrealism of putting the nuclear genie back into the bottle (with the 5 primary NPT nuclear weaopons states refusing to implement their own NPT obligations to implement a path of total elimation of nuclear weapons). And, likely to result in substantial regime change, from within, in the direction of western human rights and democracy, along with economic development. However, I believe all sides know these facts, and the US is unwilling to forswear it's ultimate regime change objectives, and continues to play its "con game strategy". North Koreans are too smart for that. In this area ,Kim Jon Il is smarter than Saddam Hussein (or maybe hindsight is just much more reliable than foresight). And Iran's Ahmadinejad's vision is better still. Republicans seem to be overly concerned with the "loss of face" if after years of help establishing North Korean economic revival and security,they "cheat" and still develop a small nuclear weapons capability. Again, I say, "So What?". Far better to have a prosperous North Korea with no incentives for nuclear weapons or their use or their sale,than a floundering regime as now with economic incentive to sell their nuclear technology for prodigious sums to aid their immense needs.Ultimately,as with Japan they would hopefully figure out they don't need those ultimately useless and expensive weapons dragging down their economy and threatening world security.They would realize they can feel more secure with no (or very few) nuclear weapons (and with historical 'enemy' Japan in same state) than current insecure Americans with 10,000, and with every capable state craving just one in self defense. If they cheat,we both still win in the long run. There is an inkling that incoming Democrats might be more pragmatic.I offer this statement from Christopher Hill,lead USA negotiator at Dec/2006 Beijing 6-party talks as proff of above US "con-job" strategy: "...US to N Korea: Focus on disarmament Widespread condemnation followed North Korea's nuclear test in October [EPA] ...
North Korea must focus on disarming itself of nuclear weapons and not divert attention by insisting first on an end to US financial sanctions, the top US nuclear negotiator has said.

The comments from Christopher Hill came as talks in Beijing on North Korea’s nuclear program entered their fourth day in Beijing. 'North Korea has said that lifting US sanctions are a prerequisite to any nuclear deal, but Washington is starting on a different foot.

"North Korea’s elimination of its existing nuclear weapons and plans is the starting point for the talks," Hill said. "Eliminating them as a result of the talks would be the wrong way around." '

Update:Iran Nuclear Sanctions: The UN Security Council passed watered down sanctions on Iran for failing to basically give up its nuclear technology development program.That program is in full compliance with the NPT treaty and no IAEA inspections have discovered any efforts at nuclear weapons development. So the implementations of UN sanctions is an affront to the legitimacy of the NPT and Security Council. It undermines their credibility.

Saddam Hussein is executed; if only the greater war criminal Bush was by his side a greater justice would have occurred.Though the result is hardly lamentable, theUS part in the kangaroo court sham trial is.

Gerald Ford,Unsentimentally Ex-president Gerld Ford who pardoned  the criminal Richard Nixon ,and perpetuated the lack of accountability for presidential criminality, that persists into the Bush administration, deserves no pardon for that irresponsible act. That ethos of lack of accountability is indirectly responsible for the hundreds of thousands of lives lost as a result of unjust US foreign policy.As with Ronald Reagan there will be an effort to forget his sins and "polish" his legacy. Just dump him in the ground, that is all he deserves.

The US and the Middle East: A "Grand Settlement" Versus the Jewish Lobby   'Centrist' Democrats Want It Both Ways    Clearly it's best to "cut and run"  The Atrocities of Gen. Augusto Pinochet and the United States    It's Not Just Bush: We're Accountable Too   Leave;But How to Get the Oil?  Ex-Soldiers Break Silence On Israeli Excesses   Democrats Prepare to Fund Longer War    What's Going On?   Yes,Oil From Venezuela     The Ludicrous Attacks On Jimmy Carter's Book   Ten Good Things About 2006