Civilian Dead a Trade-off in Nato's War of Barbarity
The killing of innocent Afghans by US bombs is the result of a calculation, not just a mistake. And it is fuelling resistance
By Seumas Milne
s.milne@guardian.co.uk October 16 2008
...This is the conflict western politicians and media continue to urge their reluctant populations to support as a war for civilisation. In reality, it is a war of barbarity, whose contempt for the value of Afghan life has fuelled the very resistance that western military and political leaders are now unable to contain.
In this year alone, for every occupation soldier killed, at least three Afghan civilians have died at the hands of occupation forces. They include the 95 people, 60 of them children, killed by a US air assault in Azizabad in August; the 47 wedding guests dismembered by US bombardment in Nangarhar in July - US forces have a particular habit of attacking weddings; and the four women and children killed in a British rocket barrage six weeks ago in Sangin.

By far the most comprehensive research into Afghan casualties over the past seven years has been carried out by Marc Herold, a US professor at the University of New Hampshire. In his latest findings, Herold estimates that the number of civilians directly killed by the US and other Nato forces since 2006, up to 3,273, is already higher than the toll exacted by the devastating three-month bombardment that ousted the Taliban regime in 2001. And over the past year civilian deaths at the hands of Nato forces have tripled, despite changes in rules of engagement.
But most telling is the political and military calculation that underlies the Afghan civilian bloodletting. "Close air support" bomb attacks called in by ground forces - which rose from 176 in 2005 to 2,926 in 2007 and are now the US tactic of choice - are between four and 10 times as deadly for Afghan civilians as ground attacks, the figures show, and air strikes now account for 80% of those killed by the occupation forces. But while 242 US and Nato ground troops have died in the war with the Taliban this year, not a single pilot has been killed in action. The trade-off could not be clearer. With troops thin on the ground and the US military up to their necks in Iraq and elsewhere, US and Nato reliance on air attacks minimises their own casualties while guaranteeing that Afghan civilians will die in far larger numbers.... the strategic importance of Afghanistan doesn't suggest any early US withdrawal: more likely an attempt to co-opt sections of the Taliban as part of a messy and protracted attempt to rearrange the occupation. It will fail. The US and its allies cannot pacify Afghanistan nor seal the border with the Taliban's Pakistani sanctuary...

Pakistan does some US dirty work in Afghanistan
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ18Df01.html ...

KARACHI - Pakistan's seven-year association with the United States' "war on terror" has moved to a new and dangerous level: the US has given it a contract to build 1,000 Humvees for use by troops in Afghanistan against the Taliban-led insurgency.
The fact that Pakistan is now providing the hardware for the "war on terror" is a highly sensitive issue, given the already inflammatory situation that exists in the country over Islamabad siding with Washington in this fight against terrorism.
Asia Times Online has learned that Pakistan's Heavy Industries Taxila (HIT) has been given the order for an undisclosed sum for the Humvees - high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles. HIT, located 35 kilometers to the west of the capital Islamabad, is the leading engineering and manufacturing center for the armed forces in Pakistan, with a workforce of over 6,000.
Work on the Humvees has already begun, although the task is being undertaken in secret. HIT has the capabilities to build main battle tanks, armored recovery vehicles, armored personnel carriers and other military equipment. Humvees are currently produced by AM General, an American heavy vehicle manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana.
According to contacts at the plant who spoke to ATol, the Humvees are just the first of many orders to come for the manufacture of armaments for use in Afghanistan....

Now, the strategic backyard of the "war on terror", Pakistan, is feeling the heat....Increasingly frequent raids by US special forces into Pakistan from Afghanistan and the use of Predator drones to target militants has angered many in Pakistan, and even caused dissent within the ranks of the armed forces.

That Pakistan is now producing hardware that could conceivably be used inside Pakistan against its people will rankle even more.
Further, as reported by ATol, the US is establishing a large base inside Pakistan at Tarbella, 20 km from Islamabad, officially said to be used to train Pakistani troops and to take part in operations in the tribal areas. (See Pakistan, US await militant showdown Asia Times Online, October 7, 2008.)
However, it is suspected the base will be used for US operations inside Pakistan and Afghanistan. American trainers are working out an arrangement for joint ventures with a selective group of Pakistani Frontier Corps.

The US already plans a military surge in Afghanistan with an additional brigade (4,000 to 5,000 troops) in January and possibly two or three more brigades later in the year. These will be reinforcements, not replacements. This will further "Americanize" the North Atlantic Treaty Organization mission in Afghanistan. Already, 26,000 of the 63,000 total international forces in the country are American. At the same time, the Afghan National Army is being expanded to 122,000 personnel and a rudimentary air force is being created.
It is against this backdrop that the US has turned to Pakistan for the manufacture of armaments to supply these new demands both within Pakistan and in Afghanistan.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JJ18Df01.html
Syed Saleem Shahzad is Asia Times Online's Pakistan Bureau Chief. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com

How Deeply is the U.S. involved in the Afghan Drug Trade?
Eric Margolis
Experience in Indochina and Central America suggests CIA, principal paymaster for U.S.-backed Afghan warlords, may be more deeply involved in the drug trade than we yet know.... Under American tutelage, Afghanistan has become the world's leading narco-state, surpassing even Colombia, and now producing 90% of the world's heroin....Washington called off efforts by the Drug Enforcement Agency to combat the Afghan drug trade for fear of endangering the power base of its former CIA `asset,' President Hamid Karzai.... The U.S.-installed Karzai regime in Kabul propped up by US and NATO bayonets has only two sources of income: cash handouts from Washington, and the proceeds of drug dealing. When Taliban ruled 90% of Afghanistan from 1996-2001, it almost totally stamped out poppy cultivation as un-Islamic. The UN's drug control agency has confirmed this fact....
Author Alfred McCoy's ground-breaking `The Politics of Heroin' documents how first French, then American intelligence was into the heroin trade in Laos and Vietnam as a way of supporting anti-Communist guerilla fighters. The same thing in Central America where CIA collaborated with cocaine-dealing members of the anti-Communist Contras. In both cases, drugs served as a currency and became more important than paper money. French and American spies ended up transporting heroin for their local allies. The same may be happening in Afghanistan....there is no way that simple Afghan farmers or Taliban fighters are running the drug trade, as Washington claims. Poppy sap is collected and converted into opium tar. Then it is smuggled to secret labs in Pakistan to be transformed into first morphine base, and then purified into heroin. None of these drugs would move south into Pakistan or be processed with imported chemicals without the full cooperation and assistance of the Afghan government, its supporting warlords, and local Pakistani officials. The drugs are then smuggled out of the port of Karachi, again under at protection by port and local officials. Pakistan is a key U.S. ally.... When the history of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is written, Washington's sordid involvement in the heroin trade and its alliance with drug lords and war criminals... will be one of the most shameful chapters.
Most Europeans see the Afghan conflict as a 19th-century style colonial war for regional domination and resources... Americans are still misled by corporate media and politicians of both parties into believing the seven-year U.S. occupation of Afghanistan is a noble `anti-terrorism' mission defending women's rights and rebuilding a ravaged nation, instead of another brutal grab for energy, this time from the Caspian Basin. http://www.uruknet.de/?p=48016

for more history of U.S./CIA in drugs
William Blum: The Real Drug Lords: A brief history of CIA involvement in the drug trade
Gary Webb: Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion narconews.net
http://www.serendipity.li/cia.html

NATO PESSIMISM West at a Loss in Afghanistan
Susanne Koelbl, Spiegel
[British Ambassador] Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles said the security situation is getting worse -- so is corruption -- and the government (of President Hamid Karzai) has lost all trust." The American strategy, he said, "is doomed to fail."... Last Thursday Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of US Armed Forces... predicted the situation would become even worse next year.
Internally, US intelligence agents have arrived at a similar assessment. In the most thorough analysis of the war in Afghanistan to date, the National Intelligence Estimate, which is to be released after the US presidential election in November, the 16 US intelligence services involved write that Afghanistan is in a dangerous "downward spiral."...
Afghans have been left wondering if this is what democracy really means. Indeed, the word "democracy" has for many become little more than an expletive used to describe extortion and moral decay.[...] [digest: Spiegel doesn't mention U.S. led terror & slaughter ] www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,druck-584616,00.html
Ideology plays more of a secondary role in the insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan, where concrete struggles for economic resources and political power are the real source of conflict. The governors often favor a specific clan, thereby excluding other Afghans from the distribution of jobs and aid funds. If the disadvantaged ones object, they are disparaged as Taliban and declared the enemy, not infrequently with international support. ...

US Economic Crisis Indicates the Beginning of the Fall of the American Empire
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The US economy and the credit crisis have reached a phase that can not be easily turned back. Neither America nor the European monetary funds and banks have any effective way out strategy. The European Union Summit in Paris, far from giving any financial shoulder to US to save it from a depression, tried to stay away from the negative impacts of the crisis. In a flurry of efforts to evade the negative spill over of the current US credit crisis, the members of the European Union are openly lambasting the US Administration for its stubborn military approach towards world affairs, which consequently ushered the present financial quagmire. In another word, the current economic crisis is, in fact, a sign of the fall of the American empire....
We ask American and western thinkers and scholars, the founders and advocates of the open market Capitalism, who for a long time been advocating the expansion of this system to all corners of the world under the exploitative slogans of democracy and republic, exploiting and plundering natural resources of almost half of the world, would the oppressed nations not bring you to justice for what you have done to them through your historical and diabolical economic exploitative cobweb of machinations that you were sucking their blood and eating their bones? Do you not thing that this crisis will not bring on you the same fate as of the former Soviet Union which also faced bankruptcy, omitting you resultantly from the surface of the map of the world? The Afghan Muslims who like other countries citizens have been oppressed, tortured and have suffered as a result of American tyranny and illegal invasions are of the opinion that those days are not very far[... ]
http://theunjustmedia.com/Afghanistan/Statements/oct08/US%20Economic%20C...

India running terror camps in Afghanistan for Attacks on Pakistan
PAKISTAN HAS GROUNDS FOR WAR CRIMES CHARGES AGAINST US
By Peter Chamberlin
17 10 2008
http://www.dawn.com/2003/10/17/top3.htm
ISLAMABAD, Oct 16: India is running six terrorist training camps inside Afghanistan for subversive activities and attacks on Pakistani territory, Islamabad says. It is the first time Pakistan has alleged the existence of Indian-sponsored training camps in Afghanistan, though it has repeatedly accused Indian consulates there of indulging in anti- Pakistan activity.Federal interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said the camps had been set up by Indian consulates functioning in Herat, Kandahar and Jalalabad. “There are six terrorist camps where Indian intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing [RAW] trains Pakistani dissidents and like-minded Afghans to stir ethnic and sectarian unrest and carry out attacks in Pakistan,” Mr Hayat said.
He did not disclose the exact locations of the alleged camps but said Pakistani security agencies had obtained credible evidence from infiltrators arrested in recent weeks.“RAW provides funds as well as fake Pakistani identity cards and fake currency to recruits, who are then sent into Pakistan after training to make attacks.”...
Federal interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat said the camps had been set up by Indian consulates functioning in Herat, Kandahar and Jalalabad. According to this Google map, these camps dotted the Durand Line:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=1023778604479192...
View Larger Map
Notice the nearly symmetrical row of pins on either side of the border that designate the fake Taliban training camps on the Afghan side, and Predator strike sites and Pakistani bases that have allowed American aircraft activity. “There are six terrorist camps where Indian intelligence agency the Research and Analysis Wing trains Pakistani dissidents and like-minded Afghans to stir ethnic and sectarian unrest and carry out attacks in Pakistan,” Mr Hayat said.

U.S. PROXY'S FASCIST 'CHI'
Israel: Russia destabilizing Middle East
(AFP) Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak claims Russia's 'controversial' arms sales to some states are destabilizing the Mideast.

U.S. 'destabilizes' and destroys Palestine & the world with 'aid' of Israeli proxy
Congress passed the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 in July, $165 billion more on war on and occupation of Iraq...and snuck in a last-minute earmark for $170 million Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel... already the largest recipient of U.S. aid... Under a CR ( Continuing Resolution), funding is frozen at current levels for all government programs, meaning that Israel would automatically get $2.38 billion just in military aid. But President Bush requested $2.55 billion in aid for Israel in FY2009 under a ten-year Memorandum of Understanding signed by the United States and Israel in 2007 to increase military aid to $30 billion over the next decade....

Israel
Weapons of Mass Destruction Capabilities and Programs1
Updated April 2006
Center for Nonproliferation Studies
http://cns.miis.edu/research/wmdme/israel.htm
http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/index.htm

Nuclear [2]
Sophisticated nuclear weapons program with an estimated 100-200 weapons, which can be delivered by ballistic missiles or aircraft.
Nuclear arsenal may include thermonuclear weapons.
IRR-2 40-150MW heavy water reactor and plutonium processing facility at Dimona, which are not under IAEA safeguards.
IRR-1 5MW research reactor at Soreq, under IAEA safeguards.
Not a signatory of the NPT; signed the CTBT on 9/25/96.

Chemical [3]
Active weapons program
Production capability for mustard and nerve agents.
Signed the CWC on 1/13/93; has not yet ratified.

Biological [4]
Production capability and extensive research reportedly conducted at the Biological Research Institute in Ness Ziona.
No publicly confirmed evidence of production.
Not a signatory of the BTWC.
Ballistic missiles [5]
Approximately 50 Jericho-2 missiles with 1,500km range and 1,000kg payload, nuclear warheads may be stored in close proximity.
Approximately 50-100 Jericho-1 missiles with 500-1,000km range and 500kg payload.
MGM-52 Lance missiles with 130km range and 450kg payload.
Shavit space launch vehicle (SLV) with 4,500km range and 150-250kg payload.
Unconfirmed reports of Jericho-3 program under development using Shavit technologies, with a range up to 4,800km and 1,000kg payload.
Developing LK-1 and LK-2 (Shavit upgrades) with 350kg and 800kg payloads, respectively.
Cruise missiles [6]
Gabriel-4 anti-ship cruise missile with 200km range and 500kg payload.
Harpoon anti-ship cruise missile with 120km range and 220kg payload.
Alleged Popeye Turbo air-launched cruise missile with 200-300km range and unknown payload.
Other delivery systems [7]
Fighter and ground-attack aircraft include: 25 F-15I, 6 F-15D, 18 F-15C, 2 F-15B, 36 F-15A, 52 F-16I, 54 F-16D, 76 F-16C, 8 F-16B, 67 F-16A, 50 F-4E-2000, 20 F-4E, 5 Kfir C7 (in service), and 79 A-4N (in service).
Ground systems include artillery and rocket launchers. Also, Popeye-3 land-attack air-launched missile with 350km range and 360kg payload, and Popeye-1 land-attack air-launched missile with 100km range and 395kg payload.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) [8]
Harpy lethal unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with 500km range and unknown payload.
Delilah/STAR-1 UAV with 400km range and 50kg payload.
Hunter UAV with 300km range and 114kg payload.
Heron UAV with up to 1,000km range and 250kg payload.
Hermes 450 UAV with 200km range and 150kg payload.
Pioneer UAV with 185km range and approximately 15-25kg payload.
Scout and Mastif UAVs with unknown ranges and payloads.
Searcher UAV with 250km range and 100kg payload.
Ranger UAV with 100-150km range and 45kg payload.
Development of Skylark Mini-UAV with range of 10km and unknown payload.

Sources [...]

Israel rebranding '"will magically 'unlock 'chi' to smell sweeter...It is more important to be attractive than to be right"
Stuart Littlewood considers the imposible mission of a British public relations firm hired by Israel to boost the image of the Middle East’s most notorious land-grabber, ethnic cleanser and all-round threat to world peace.... Israel is among the worst brand-names on the planet. That’s understandable considering the regime was founded on terror, is massively armed and subsidized by the US, thrives on lands seized from its neighbours at gun-point and is bent on making its illegal occupation permanent. As a brand it never had a chance to flourish in any nice way. The "Israel brand?" Murdering civilians under illegal occupation – Beit Hanoun 2008... "The conclusion is that it is more important for Israel to be attractive than to be right," says Mr Aharoni. The Israel-Palestine struggle has been a stain on it for years and Mr Aharoni blames the unwillingness of the Palestinians to curb their "terrorism". In an interview with The Tartan, the student newspaper of Pittsburg's Carnegie Mellon University, he said: "It is time for the Arab world to look in the mirror... What is the future of a society that nurtures the culture of death?" Good question...
The firm that has accepted the challenge, Acanchi, says it aims to "unlock the magic that can be used to create a compelling brand positioning". To achieve this it will tap into a mysterious inner energy or life force called "chi": "We believe that success for a country, city or region brand can be achieved by discovering, defining and channeling this chi into a brand positioning that reflects the core truths of a place." www.uruknet.info?p=48043

the enemy's analysis & strategy is part of planning, basis of leadership, often precursor to action... as is revolutionary analysis, theory and strategy
Imperialist Strategic Thinking on Iran
By Reza Fiyouzat
http://revolutionaryflowerpot.blogspot.com/2008/10/imperialist-grand-bar...
October 18, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- In a recent policy paper by the New American Foundation (among whose board members sits Francis 'End of History' Fukuyama), it is argued that the next U.S. administration must engage Iran with a 'grand bargain', which addresses both Iran and the U.S.'s strategic concerns. The paper argues that the piecemeal approach the U.S. has taken towards Iran has clearly failed to change the behavior of the regime in Iran, and a détente is not a desirable option. The only stable and strategically appropriate path to take is a full rapprochement.

The policy paper is very frank in its approach, as imperialists usually are among themselves. It argues that Iran is strategically too important to be alienated, and argues that in the absence of a full rapprochement, Iran's leaders will have no choice but to flea to the Russian and the Chinese spheres of influence. Iran's hydrocarbon resources are vast (second in the world, in combined oil and gas), and it's strategic positioning in the Middle East is not something the U.S. can afford to do without for much longer. More importantly, Iran's animosity toward the U.S. can be detrimental to the advance of the American interests in the region. So, the best thing to do is for the U.S. to strike a 'grand bargain' with a regime that has historically proven that it can cooperate with the U.S., but has never been rewarded fully for its past cooperation both in fighting the Taliban regime and their overthrow, as well as in the American military and political designs for Iraq.

The wish list of things to be granted by the U.S. and Iran in such a grand bargain include the familiar demands: Iran is to modify its nuclear program to accommodate western powers' concerns, disavow the 'terrorist' organizations such as Hamas, Hezbullah and the Islamic Jihad, and help stabilize the region for Uncle Sam. In turn, the U.S. is to guarantee that it will not militarily (or otherwise) try to change Iran's borders or its form of government, lift all unilateral sanctions against Iran, and generally play nice.

Of particular interest is the following passage from the policy paper: "During their dialogue with U.S. counterparts over Afghanistan in 2001-03, Iranian diplomats indicated their interest in working with the United States to establish a regional security framework focused on Central Asia. Other senior Iranian officials raised such a possibility with us in 2003-04." Hardly an anti-imperialist stance on the part of the Iranian regime! On the contrary, this is clearly indicative of a regime with ambitions for becoming a cop on the beat (much like the Shah's regime was for the Americans), and wants that role officially sanctioned by the biggest cop on the global beat, the U.S.

These are recommendations of a group of professionals whose bread is buttered by thinking ahead and advising Uncle Sam on the best course of action to take, in order to secure its long-term geo-strategic interests. The analysis provided by the New American Foundation shows that powerful forces within the imperil halls of the U.S. also find the 'cop on the beat' scenario for Iran as something desirable.

This line of thinking is not isolated to think tanks, as attested to by a Time magazine article of 4 October 2008, titled, "Changing the conventional wisdom about Iran." In this Time article, France is portrayed as the key European power to lead the charge for a strategic adjustment of policy as regards Iran.

As reported there: "'The opportunity is there to move past the 30 year-old images of a defiant and frightening revolutionary Iran, and start encouraging cooperative behavior by engaging with Iran as the swiftly-developing nation and regional power it is,' says Bernard Hourcade, an Iran specialist at France's National Center for Scientific Research. 'The key is direct American involvement in relations, because renewed ties with the U.S. is what Iran wants most'."

Further, the Time article reports: "'Iran's biggest strategic concern is obtaining security assurances and accords, and the only nation that can provide those is the U.S.,' says Didier Billion, deputy director of the Institute on International and Strategic Relations in Paris. The logic behind that view is supported by Thomas Fringar, chairman of the U.S. National Intelligence Council and the senior analyst in Washington's intelligence community."

There have been other indications as well. For one, there have been reports on the volume of U.S.-Iran trade, which have increases ten fold during the Bush administration. Another highly telling development was the plans of Bush administration to open a diplomatic post in Iran (see here). Though the plan was shelved, "in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling," other reports indicate that it is still under consideration. If the Bush administration's stated animosity toward Ahmadinejad's administration (or the Iranian regime as a whole) were as deep-rooted as the alarmists have been stating, whence did these considerations of opening a diplomatic post materialize?

The truth is that American imperialism is not on very solid foundations. Besides its military power, which alone does not acquire one an empire, most other aspects of its power are on very shaky ground, as the current financial meltdown has made plain. For its maintenance therefore it requires two things: prevention of other powers from rising, and a host of client states in geo-strategically important regions. The grand bargain discussed here addresses both requirements.

To sum, these are important signs and the writing is on the wall that neither this nor the next president of the U.S. will be looking at bombing Iran; rather, he'll be likely offering the regime of the mullahs yet more cakes and the keys to the heavens the mullahs have been asking for.

* * *
In a previous article ("A New Cold War?" Counterpunch, January 29, 2007), I likened the current relationship between Iran and the U.S. as what in Iran we call a 'Zargari fight', which basically is a verbal back and forth between two parties who have no intention of actually engaging each other in a hand-to-hand. 'Zargar' is an ironsmith, and when two ironsmiths engage is such a verbal fight, the purpose is mostly to gather a crowd, from whose patronage both ironsmiths can potentially benefit. In that article and more recently, I have argued that the U.S. ruling classes do not want a regime change in Iran at all. On the contrary, they like and appreciate greatly the theocratic setup in Iran, and all they wish is for the mullahs cool it down on the rhetorical front and act differently with regards to a few agenda items dear to Uncle Sam's heart as pertains to the regional setup in the Middle East.

For their part, the Iranian regime has no fundamental animosity with imperialists and in fact has open dealings with European imperialists, the IMF and the World Bank, and would very much like to join the World Trade Organization. As pertains to the Americans in particular, again we remind the reader of the full cooperation forwarded by the Iranian regime in the invasion of Afghanistan (and the installment of Hamid Karzai as a puppet president), as well as with the overthrow of Saddam's regime and the installation of a puppet regime in Iraq.
These are facts. If these were not factual truths, no faction of the U.S. ruling class would be singing the praises of the benefits of engaging the mullahs with a 'grand bargain'. No such grand bargains were ever conjured up with regards to Saddam's regime.

There are, of course, some organizations (e.g., CASMII) whose entire reason for being is to make mountains out of the molehill of the disagreements between the leaders of the two nations, in order to set themselves up with a political trading post, and in so doing they must talk up the imminent threats of war and destruction that is about to rain down on Iran at the hands of the U.S. imperialism, and to justify their lobbying efforts in behalf of the theocratic regime in Iran.

Such organizations, however, have no problems with imperialists setting up open and legal shop in Iran, nor have they any objections to U.S. corporations looting our resources openly and legally with the blessing of our own government. Indeed, they consider such 'economic cooperation' as the spirit of our times and a blessing to be sought. And should anybody warn that the economic interests of the imperialists are the real driving force behind political-military actions, that will land you the ready-at-hand label of 'hawkish' and hollow accusations of 'struggling to sow antagonism against Iran'.

Much to these leftists' delight, we are now observing the contours of an imperialist 'grand bargain' with the mullah's regime emerging (along the lines of the deal Nixon struck with China in early 1970s). This line of dealing with the Iranian regime is not surprising at all; Brzezinski, in the late 1970s, regarded the Grand Ayatollah Khomeini as a strategic ally of the imperialists in their efforts to strap a 'Green Belt' (of Islamist states) around the Soviet Union.

As a socialist, I do not reduce imperialism to its military moves. Socialists understand that war is another way of pursuing political objectives, so for those of us who don't put the cart before the horse, it is clear that wars happen for political-economic reasons. Why would imperialists go through the gigantic mess of a war, not to mention carry the even larger financial burdens that currently they clearly cannot afford, when the adversary is willing to accommodate the imperialist's wishes through mere negotiations? All that is required of both sides is to find a solution that leaves both their faces unmarred, one that both can take home to their people as a 'strategic victory'.

The 'grand bargain' is clearly such a solution.

So, the likes of CASMII and their American friends can now stop their rhetorical abuses of Iranian socialists, who have been warning about such bargains, and can consider their work done. They can now register as legal, foreign lobbying agents at the service of this theocracy and bring consistency between their speech acts and their political acts. They can stop sounding like Zionists and their supporters, whose most ready-at-hand rhetorical grenade of choice is 'anti-Semitism' -- except, of course, those over at CASMII will call you 'hawkish' or a 'neocon' if you so much as direct any criticism at this theocratic dictatorship. These hard working deflectors can now concentrate on generating actual positive publicity for the Iranian government, instead of forever repelling criticisms directed at the mullahs by those who are truly fighting for social justice.

The Imperialist 'Grand Bargain' with Iran
10/12/08
This came in the mail, curtesy of Liz Burbank, whose indefatigable efforts shedding light on imperialist thinking and strategizing are invaluable and priceless. The piece (read the article here) is by a think-tank, among whose board of directors is that luminary of imperialist thinking, Francis 'End of History' Fukuyama. A longer commentary of ours is forthcoming, but for now, we'll leave you with Ms Burbank's own commentary:

Many 'word warriors' among us have been stoking the fire a long time predicting imminent u.s. war on Iran. No argument that the u.s. prepared for war militarily and with incessant psywar 'news', but beyond the threats, it was also wielding carrots, carrying on back-channel talks, getting Iran's approval of its occupation of Iraq and its puppet govt., for starters.

Many still continue to predict this imminent war without taking into account the major changes political-economic-military setbacks that have severely weakened u.s. imperialism. Though it is a possibility, directly or via its zionist proxy, it is not a likelihood as many of us have argued for a long time, and it has distracted people, even mobilized street protests against a possible attack instead of against actual genocidal u.s. wars.

[Here], an imperialist thinktank analysis puts U.S. - Iran in the context of u.s. geostrategic agenda, proposing a new policy to salvage u.s. supremacy in the ME and beyond, to beat out rapidly gaining capitalist rivals China & Russia. Considering the all-round u.s. political-economic-military situation, some variation on this proposal is necessary for the empire and I think likely to be implemented under the next probably dem. admin. despite opposition. (Check out bipartisan participants who's who at the recent newamerica conference -- a good antidote to and exposure of the electoral con-game distracting and paralyzing u.s. 'progressives')

This much 'oilier' policy to maintain u.s. hegemony, if reported at all by the 'news', will of course be presented in neoliberal drag as a step toward 'peace', so our readers need to be prepared, to see how it serves the u.s. bipartisan global agenda.

Liz
http://www.burbankdigest.com/

ALL THE NEWS FIT TO PRINT FOR CAPITALISM
Still Burn-ing the truth to justify war crimes
By Curtis FJ Doebbler
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/newsfull.php?newid=168650
Not only was the unfair trial of Saddam a violation of international law, but the execution itself was illegal. I risked my life to participate in the trial as a human rights lawyer trying to ensure a fair trial. Moreover, with former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, I wrote a lengthy submission to the court and we made numerous public pleas calling for a stop to the unfair trial and for the American authorities to do what is necessary to make it fair. We argued to the United States that had established the Iraqi Special Tribunal and named it head. We argued to the Iraqi Special Tribunal itself, to the United Nations, and to the international community at large that the trial was unfair. We argued to the American media, including the New York Times, and Mr. Burns. And we argued to Mr. Wiley and to Mr. Blinderman, the two sources Mr. Burns cites to show the trial was unfair. We were ignored by all of these people and some even worked to ensure the trial was unfair....every credible human rights organization that looked at the trial found it to be unfair. These include.. inter-governmental bodies such as the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.
The latter body of five internationally reputed experts, who governments, including the United States government, have mandated to determine if a detention is illegal, found the detention of the President and his trial to be patently illegal. They did this not once, but twice in November 2005 and September 2006, when they explained to Mr. Wiley, Mr. Blinderman, and all the others involved in the trial what had to be fixed and then that nothing had been fixed so that they had no choice but to declare the detention and trial illegal.
You can find the documents I mention above on my website doebbler.net. These documents were made available to the press throughout the trial. Why did Mr. Burns ignore these voices when something could be done?...

NYT failed attempt to obfuscate class-race based oppression behind fact U.S. ranks 29th lowest on Infant mortality in the world it bleeds to death
Infant mortality is associated with many factors, including the health and economic status of the mother, her race or ethnicity, access to quality medical care, and such cultural problems as rising obesity and drug use. That makes it difficult to identify the cause of the United States’ poor performance
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/opinion/19sun3.html?th&emc=th

we the people reward the gangsters
Financial workers [SIC] at Wall Street's top banks are to receive pay deals worth more than $70bn (£40bn), a substantial proportion of which is expected to be paid in discretionary bonuses, for their work so far this year ---- [despite] plunging the global financial system into its worst crisis since the 1929 stock market crash... Staff at six banks including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are to pick up the payouts [despite] being the beneficiaries of a $700bn bail-out from the US government that has already prompted criticism. The government's cash has been poured in on the condition that excessive executive pay would be curbed. Pay and bonus deals equivalent to 10% of US government bail-out package
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/oct/17/executivesalaries-banking

and get our rewards
The Downturn's Upside
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
The economic misery is numbingly real, but it's also true that a downturn isn't uniformly bad and might even be good for you.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/opinion/19kristof.html?th&emc=th

'WESTERN' TERROR & TORTURE DEMOCRACY
Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently issued new guidelines for the F.B.I. that permit agents to use a range of intrusive techniques to gather information on Americans — even when there is no clear basis for suspecting wrongdoing.... agents may engage in lengthy physical surveillance, covertly infiltrate lawful groups, or conduct pretext interviews in which agents lie about their identities while questioning a subject’s neighbors, friends or work colleagues based merely on a generalized “threat.” The new rules also allow the bureau to use these techniques on people identified in part by their race or religion and without requiring even minimal evidence of criminal activity.

NYT ignoring the rest of fascist infrastructure says... These changes are a chilling invitation for the government to spy on law-abiding Americans based on their ethnic background or political activity... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/opinion/19sun2.html?th&emc=th

another piece of state terror war against capitalism's most feared, the poor and oppressed in the urban 'slums': pre-paid phone time users the target:
Passports will be needed to buy mobile phones
David Leppard
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article4969312.ece
Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance.... present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase....compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. The move is targeted at monitoring the owners of Britain’s estimated 40m prepaid mobile phones. They can be purchased with cash by customers who do not wish to give their names, addresses or credit card details.... pay-as-you-go phones are popular with criminals and terrorists because their anonymity shields their activities from the authorities. But they are also used by thousands of law-abiding citizens who wish to communicate in private [digest: media as usual parrots govt. propaganda: NSA picks up ALL communications, there is no 'private'. Allows those without credit or co. contracts to communicate worldwide... communication of the oppressed is threatening to the slavemaster. The U.S. will surely follow.].

in case you believe it all began with bush...
National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 122
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB122/
U.S. Interrogation Manuals Counseled "Coercive Techniques"
Cheney Informed of "Objectionable" Interrogation Guides in 1992
National Security Archive Posts CIA Training Manuals from 60s, 80s, and
Investigative memos on earlier controversy on human rights abuses
For Further Information:
National Security Archives
Thomas Blanton 202 994-7000
Peter Kornbluh 202 994-7116

Washington D.C. May 12, 2004: CIA interrogation manuals written in the 1960s and 1980s described "coercive techniques" such as those used to mistreat detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to the declassified documents posted today by the National Security Archive. The Archive also posted a secret 1992 report written for then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney warning that U.S. Army intelligence manuals that incorporated the earlier work of the CIA for training Latin American military officers in interrogation and counterintelligence techniques contained "offensive and objectionable material" that "undermines U.S. credibility, and could result in significant embarrassment."
The two CIA manuals, "Human Resource Exploitation Training Manual-1983" and "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation-July 1963," were originally obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Baltimore Sun in 1997. The KUBARK manual includes a detailed section on "The Coercive Counterintelligence Interrogation of Resistant Sources," with concrete assessments on employing "Threats and Fear," "Pain," and "Debility."

The Baltimore Sun reported that, former Battalion 316 member Jose Barrera of said he was taught interrogation methods by U.S. instructors in 1983, used this technique: "The first thing we would say is that we know your mother, your younger brother. And better you cooperate, because if you don't, we're going to bring them in and rape them and torture them and kill them." [4]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Army_and_CIA_interrogation_manuals