May 30, 2006
Freedom to Travel
The Foreign Service Act of 1924 folded consular activities into the diplomatic service. It was a terrible mistake for lots of reasons, and hopefully someday will be repealed such that US diplomats and consular officials no longer are interchangeable. Nevertheless, all too often consular concerns do get short shrift when, in the bigger picture, they can fundamentally shape our relations with other countries. In the dispute, for example, between the US and EU over post-9/11 US 'security' requirements for airlines' passenger data, the European Court of Justice has now ruled the requirements illegal, setting up a potential major obstacle for foreign visitors. If the US and EU can't resolve their differences the US will suffer a noticeable degree of isolation, not so different in kind from that self-imposed by the old Soviet bloc. The fight isn't over, the US may yet prevail, but an important marker is on the table. US 'security' concerns, so-called, are not really compatible with a free society or amicable external relations or, indeed, a civilized approach to life.
May 28, 2006
Two Roads Diverged In A Wood
For a couple weeks now, in anticipation of Memorial Day, I've been thinking of writing about the problem posed by the Tyrant's purposes of neverending war. In the first place, most of us are basically optimists and even those most resolutely anti-war have an automatic tendency to think—wrongly—that after Iraq (and Iran) is taken care of (one way or another) that things may calm down. This misses the critical point: the Tyrant and his gang have everything to gain from further disorder but everything to lose if peace were to become a guiding light of American policy. The scope of the problem is an order of magnitude, or two, greater than its visible tip.
May 25, 2006
Mainstream News Missing in Action, Again
Just about the most interesting, and also most under-reported, under-commented on story out there—even in the blogosphere judging from my RSS feeds—is the FBI raid on congressman Jefferson's offices. If the Washington Post's fact-checkers are even approximately right that this is a first for the FBI, it should cause some pause for thought (note that they didn't say no federal agents had ever executed a search warrant on a lawmaker's offices, but that is of course one working assumption behind their caveat until they've researched it better).
Continue reading "Mainstream News Missing in Action, Again"...
May 22, 2006
Sapristi!
'Tis a pity that Jason Leopold's reporting on Rove didn't pan out last week. I don't believe, though, that he was making things up and I credit both him and Truthout for having the courage to run with something they thought correct (though they should've exercised a tad more care with the details). I still think large chunks of the story may well have been accurate and, quite apart from Leopold's reporting, I'm firmly of the view that Rove will be indicted for his role in the Plame affair, eventually. Probably sooner, at this point, than later. We'll see. And I'll expect to hear that familiar refrain from the White House: "This is behind us, finally, thank goodness, and we're going back to work." Which what they'll be really thinking is: "that bastard 'turd blossom', is he going to roll over on Cheney or will he follow omertà, like he's supposed to?" The heat's still on the White House gang even without any new news out there...
May 16, 2006
The Fourth "Supreme International Crime" in Seven Years is Already Underway, with the Support of the Free Press and the "International Community"
By Edward S. Herman and David Peterson
With the United States having initiated wars in violation of the UN Charter, and hence engaged in the "supreme international crime,"[1] against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Iraq in 1999, 2001, and 2003, one might have expected that its commencement of a fourth aggression only a few years later against Iran would arouse the UN, EU, other international institutions and NGOs, and even the supposedly moral and independent Free Press, to serious protest and counter-action, including referral to the UN Security Council under Chapter VII's "threat of peace" articles and support of possible diplomatic and economic sanctions. This has not happened, and in fact the Bush administration has successfully mobilized the UN, whose "primary responsibility" is the "maintenance of international peace and security," and the EU, as well as the Free Press, to facilitate its fourth attack.
May 14, 2006
Milosevic’s Death In The Propaganda System
By Edward S. Herman and David Peterson
[Published in Z Magazine (May, 2006), in a slightly abridged version and without footnotes. Posted here in full with the kind permission of the authors.]
The March 11 death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in his prison cell in The Hague was greeted by Western political circles and media alike with an outpouring of venom that reflected the demon role assigned to him in the myth-making of the past 15 years. Milosevic was a "monster," a "sociopath," and a "war criminal who wrecked southeastern Europe in the latter part of the 20th century," former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and a chief architect of Clinton era policy toward the region, Richard Holbrooke, told the Cable News Network the very first morning. "Milosevic started four wars. He lost them all. The biggest of them all was the one in Bosnia, where over 300,000 people died, two-and-a-half million homeless. And we bombed him in August and September of 1995. We should have done this much earlier."[1] During this and the ten days following his death terms such as "Butcher of the Balkans" and "Butcher of Belgrade" were used dozens and perhaps hundreds of times in the U.S. media alone (and widely used abroad as well).[2]
Continue reading "Milosevic’s Death In The Propaganda System"...
May 12, 2006
Otiose Explanations
Now the Post confirms the USA Today data collection story. So far, so good. But I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Shoes. "Nobody is listening to your conversation." As in "no person is listening, but this antiseptic, friendly, willing-to-fiercely-protect-your-rights computer here, which never makes mistakes, might just be digging a little deeper." Given the depravity of the Tyrant's crew, who can seriously entertain the possibility that they wouldn't throw that additional switch, causing purely domestic conversations to run through a filter checking voiceprints and keywords? The more I edit these podcasts, the more I'm impressed with how differently voices appear as waveforms. It's got to be at least as good as fingerprinting (which isn't, btw, perfect). Easy to talk yourself into the notion that it wouldn't be 'listening' but tracking or some such. Except that the 'special projects division' under General Rove is sure to be tracking dirt...
May 10, 2006
In And Around The Lake
One of the great drawbacks of writing about, or for, Washington without having actually worked here is that the unrealities don't compute. Offerings of otherwise unobjectionable common sense lack the subtle appreciation of what's required for their transmission into the system. This is a chronic problem, particularly, for non-Americans. Nevertheless, sometimes it is heuristically useful to play the game of "if I were in charge what would I do," and Simon Jenkins heroically steps up to that with more uncommon British wisdom. This is a terrific essay by a gifted writer, well worth reading and pondering.
A Tiny Cloud
International currency markets are more-or-less rigged, so take the following with a grain of salt: Connecting the dots it's not just a coincidence that the Chinese Vice-Minister for Finance should talk publicly at an Asian finance conference about 'rumors' that the dollar is about to drop by 25%. The Chinese are not amused at the Tyrant's goosing up oil prices, nor enthused at the prospect of his provoking a war with Iran. They want to remind Washington that they're carrying around a two-by-four and will not hesitate to apply it if and as necessary.
May 8, 2006
Axiom of Evil
By Werther*
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (revised 1973 edition) defines an axiom as "a proposition that lends itself to general acceptance; a well-established or universally-conceded principle." One notes, however, that in its use in logic or mathematics, the word does not mean something absolutely and demonstrably true from an objective framework: "a self-evident proposition, not requiring demonstration, but assented to as soon as stated." To logicians, the axiom possesses the same self-evident correctness, not requiring proof, as the taboo holds for a tribe of Stone Age headhunters.
The Hayden Nomination
I have mixed feelings about this one, only because Mike was friendly towards me and a good source on Yugoslav issues, but I recognize that the bottom line is that Mike Hayden royally prostituted himself at NSA on the warrantless wiretap programs, and I'd also give at least some credence to multiple reports of his dictatorial management style. It's not the Mike I knew, but then people change. If you take a step back and asked former senior NSA officials what they think of warrantless wiretaps, I'm sure you'd get the answer that the individual involved, if a military officer, should have faced a court-martial. It's a serious deal. Compounding the problem is Mike's history of 'farming-out' NSA activities, which all signs indicate would become the practice again at Langley, particularly regarding covert operations being spun over to the Pentagon. I mean, if you're going to go that route, why have a CIA, or for that matter a State Department? No, Mike Hayden is the wrong guy for the job and if the Republicans are smart about it they'll balk. If they don't I predict this will become the millstone that takes Bush into the mid-twenties...
May 3, 2006
Pay More, Get Less
I wish I were more knowledgeable about the economics of medicine. What I do know is that it's a disgrace that the US, in contrast to virtually every other industrial democracy on the planet, does not have a national health care system. This is such an obvious public good that it is mind-boggling to think of all the interest groups that have thwarted its establishment. Over the years I've seen numerous studies showing that Americans pay more for health care but get much less for their money than those in countries with socialized medicine, and I wish I could pull together a list of interesting links, but I haven't kept track. It is worth noting on its own, nevertheless, a recent study showing that people in the UK are healthier than Americans which, while not directed firmly on the issue, does suggest, once again, that a system driven by big insurance interests and lawyers is not competitive with the public provision of health care.
Fences Do Not Make Good Neighbors
A lot of people seem to misunderstand Frost's famous poem, "Mending Wall." Perhaps the most quoted line from it is "Good fences make good neighbors" as if this is what Robert Frost meant, when actually what he meant is spelled out explicitly in the very first line and later repeated: "Something there is that doesn't love a wall." Something, indeed. Thus it is interesting to note that the BBC, upon an investigation of itself, has found that its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been biased, in favor of Israel, and now the BBC promises to improve. That's a welcome development and one which would be almost unimaginable on this side of the Atlantic, yet I have no doubt that the BBC's self-investigation is a British style white-wash, a firebreak, intended to deflect more severe criticism of Israel, of its wall, just as the recent Mearsheimer and Walt paper, which ostensibly criticizes the influence of the Zionist lobby in America is also a firebreak, written by two self described 'philo-Semites' and 'supporters of Israel' to deflect more serious attention from the real issues.
