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discretion, direct debaters away from the Letters page.
APRIL 2008
[Re
Doubting Obama, Apr 29] The double standard being applied to
Obama for the remarks made by another human being whom he does not control or
own must emphasize once again how deeply racist the United States still is.
Whereas lily-white man McCain can enjoy a relatively hassle-free campaign,
bereft of any lasting criticism of the Reverend Haggee's offensive remarks
about the sins of New Orleans (whose real transgression is being mostly black),
Obama finds every aspect of his patriotism, philosophy and even faith
questioned and scrutinized. But it is the fact that he is born of an immigrant
father and that he schooled with Muslims overseas while using a non-WASP name
that rhymes with Osama that condemns him more vehemently than any
guilt-by-association. How can Americans entrust their country to someone who is
so obviously foreign? America's Jesus is blonde with blue eyes, our superheroes
are always Caucasian, and our presidents' ancestors come from some European
country we can never find on a map. Imagine how relieved all the racist whites
in America are that their naked racism now has a bona fide, legitimate cover;
ie, the America-bashing pronouncements of someone that Obama knows. Heavens!
What if tawny Obama's grandmother had complimented Fidel Castro on his beard or
an aunt of his had shown courtesy to Ahmadinejad? Unquestionably, Obama would
be branded a closet communist or clandestine al-Qaeda operative. White-haired,
white-skinned McCain (with a rich blonde wife to boot), on the other hand,
served his country well by bombing poor Third World peasants to kingdom come,
which is, for most Americans, the only thing Third Worlders are good for. My,
now THAT's an American we can trust and love!
Hardy Campbell
Houston Texas, USA (Apr 30, '08)
Regarding Willy Lam's
China intensifies war against splittism [Apr 30], this one
article doesn't seem to belong to the careful intellectual tradition of ATol.
Too much muddled abuse. Too much Cold War rhetoric. Too many unverifiable
speculations. And the trillion dollar key question, "Who is winning the war?",
isn't addressed at all. Surely when talking of war, one most of all wants to
know who is winning, or who will win. I hope one of your writers will write
about that. An intelligent person please, someone like Bhadrakumar or Chan
Akya. Why can't Chinese (excepting Henry CK Liu) write like Indians?
Migrant Worker
Luxembourg (Apr 30, '08)
With Asia Times Online on my daily list of must reads, I'd like to thank you
for the excellent articles by Kaveh Afrasiabi on Iran and India. I am amazed at
how prolific Afrasiabi can be without ever losing any spark of his brilliance.
Eat your heart out, New York Times!
Tim
Toronto (Apr 30, '08)
Regarding the article
Oil in 2012: $200 or $50?, April 30, by Mr
Martin Hutchinson has omitted a couple of crucial points that would have
changed the content of the article. Mr Hutchinson fails to mention that the US
has vast untapped reserves of oil. There is plenty along the Gulf Coast, West
Coast, the state of Alaska which is 500,000 square miles ... Nor does he
mention that deep-water drilling around the US coast would yield even more
untapped oil. There is the "oil triangle" that include the states of Nevada,
Wyoming and Utah which by itself is predicted to have reserves in shale oil
that equals the entire oil discoveries of the Middle East. In addition, in the
North American continent that includes Mexico, the US and Canada, there are
vast areas, especially in Canada that are untapped. This does not include other
sources of energy that the US and the North American continent has in abundance
such as coal, uranium, and hydroelectricity, to name a few. In addition, the US
has great potential in alternative energy, which has also largely gone
untapped. The question then is why isn't the US utilizing its potential to be
independent of Middle East oil? The answer is the US environmentalists, who
have a strong voice in the government and have stood in the way of energy
companies in tapping this oil. The US can easily become oil independent and
even be an exporter, if the environmentalists did not stand in the way. The
other issue Mr Hutchinson did not deal with is pure economics. Any commodity
can price itself off the market. If oil was to hit $200 by 2012, economies
around the world will either seek alternative energy or we will use the
technology of 2012 to discover other energy sources and even make alternative
fuel easily competitive to a $200 barrel of oil. To sum it up, a $200 barrel of
oil will be totally unsustainable by the world economies and the price will
have to drop or the Middle East will start losing customers.
Chrysantha Wijeyasingha
Clinton, USA (Apr 30, '08)
[Re North
Korea stoic in the face of famine, Apr 30] Faced with
famine, how stoic is North Korea? Stoic doesn't mean that Pyongyang is resigned
to its fate. The vagaries of nature have visited unprecedented floods which
have wiped out crops. Andrei Lankov points out the antiquated farming system
which impedes better crop yields. Yet, after its own fashion, since the first
Arduous March and possibly before, reform has come to the countryside. But, as
Lankov rightly points out, the outside world knows little of the changes in
North Korea's command economy since the death of Kim Il-sung. Glaring food
shortages come at a time when world food prices are skyrocketing, and the new
situation which has caused food riots elsewhere, means less potential
non-governmental food shipments. Added to this is South Korea's new president
Lee Myung-bak who has reversed Seoul's Sunshine Policy which since 2000 has
given partly unconditional food aid. Now President Lee says that he will not
withhold such deliveries but Kim Jong-il will have to ask for them. This is a
breech of traditional Korean Confucianist behavior whereby the younger brother
[Lee] refuses to willingly help his old brother [Kim]. Pyongyang, however,
expects help from China. North Korea is the only country where no protests met
the Olympic Torch, and was greeted with high ceremony and much fanfare. Beijing
shouldn't stint in opening its granaries to alleviate North Korea's impending
famine. No one should rule out the aid a diminution of foreign food donations
will bring.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Apr 30, '08)
[Re
Oil in 2012: $200 or $50?, April 30] Since oil is now $120 a
barrel, CIBC [Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce] simply took the high end of
the A range for oil as $200 a barrel for 2012 that OPEC projected. It mightn't
have to wait that long since OPEC's president, Algerian energy minister Chakib
Khelil, thought that target would be reached in 2009. American lawmakers are
pinning the tail of blame on this cartel of oil-producing states for either
holding or cutting production levels of oil for historic oil prices [by]
putting pressure on world economies and causing disruptions in the marketplace.
Yet, big oil companies are registering record profits. At his press conference
today in the Rose Garden, President Bush called for drilling in wildlife
preserves and for building more refineries. Oil industry watchers point out
that America's refineries are operating at 85% of capacity, which may account
for the higher prices at the pump. But the last word remains with Chakib
Khelil. He simply stated that "high prices are due to the recession in the US"
and the weakness in the American dollar. Moreover, he noted that "each time the
dollar falls a percent, the price of a barrel rises by $4", and if the value
rises, the reverse happens. Conclusion: the weak dollar has to go. But no one
should count on that in the short term.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Apr 30, '08)
[Re
Doubting Obama, Apr 29] Logic may be on Muhammed Cohen's
side, but it won't wash away growing doubts about the junior senator from
Illinois. The release on April 25 of the cheeky comedy Harold & Kumar Escape
from Guantanamo Bay sends up President George W Bush, yet it has him
saying to these potheads, "You don't have to like the nation, you have to love
the country". Individualistic as Americans think they are, they are also
fiercely patriotic, and the words that the film has the satirized president say
ring true for the majority of Americans. The heteroclite collection of people
who make up America [have few] symbols in common, [but] they do respond,
especially after 9/11, to the the flag, to a transcendent God, and to the idea
of the United States as a country of hope and liberty. This is the dark cloud
tracking Barack Obama's campaign. As a news producer Cohen should know the
value of symbols. Mr Obama has handed Mrs Clinton and Mr McCain and the
Republicans the means to hammer into the public's mind questions about his
loyalties to flag, God, and country. One, there's the matter of the flag lapel
pin. Two, his remarks that the American people are so demoralized that they
find aid and succor in guns and religion. True as these words may be, they are
a slap in the public's face. His pastor the Reverend Jeremiah Wright has taken
to the airwaves to have his say. But no amount explanation will erase the
public's imagine of God damning America; Mr Wright is Obama's Willy Horton and
Michael Dukakis riding in a tank, rolled into one. The good minister of the
Church of God is ingenuous when he says that he's a religious leader not a
politician which is senator Obama's domain. He is not in the least convincing,
especially since his sermons are a savvy mixture of politics enveloped in
religious imagery. Mrs Clinton has gone on the offensive with material which Mr
Obama has fashioned for her. She can play on those very symbols of the flag,
God, and the country to rally a working class which has long gone over to the
Republicans, for her own cause. Senator Obama has much fence mending to do to
clinch his party's nomination for the presidency, and time is running out for
him.
Jakob Cambria
USA (Apr 29, '08)
Regarding the article
Iran steps into the enemy's territory, Apr
29, by Kaveh L Afrasiabi. The author writes "This is basically a subset of an
ambitious global strategy that prioritizes ties with various countries, for
example in Asia, Africa, Central and Latin America, that are visibly
anti-America, such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela." I wonder, has he ever
described the United States as "anti-Iraq" or "anti-Afghanistan"? Why is a
leader who is "pro" his or her country automatically "anti-American"? Other
than that, Asia Times Online has by far the most intelligent analysis of the
Middle and Far East.
Patrick Barr (Apr 29, '08)
I read Mr Bajpaee's piece
The Indian elephant returns to Africa [Apr
25] with interest. As a Kenyan of Asian origin, I would care to make the
following points. It is a fact that the Chinese and Indian expansion has been a
key driver in the African renaissance. Before their emergence, Africa faced an
egregiously one-sided demand structure. The continent had only one real
customer and that was the West. The continent was unable to enter into
long-term contracts for their products and this created a "hand-to-mouth"
cycle. China and India used this opportunity to establish their bona fides to
good effect, whilst simultaneously securing long-term supplies to fuel their
expansion. Their arrival tipped the demand equation in Africa's favor. And for
this, we are all grateful. If you care to correlate China and India trade flows
with Africa, you will note that the acceleration in SSA [Sub-Saharan Africa]
GDP [gross domestic product] growth is nearly perfectly correlated to the
surge. I would also say that clearly it is in India's national interest (as it
is China's) that this relationship is nurtured. It would be an enormous
abdication of their respective interests, if we are not seeing a more concerted
effort on both their parts. Africa has crossed its inflexion point. The problem
was our people were not plugged in. This is happening now. It is the equivalent
of flicking on a switch. And with the landing of various undersea cables, we
are going to see Africa undertake a one-off catch up compressed into a few
short years. Carpe diem.
Aly-Khan Satchu
Kenya (Apr 29, '08)
China must fight back - why not? Since the International Olympic Committee and
Olympic Games are "properties" controlled by the West, it is high time that
China should go on the "offensive". I may sound too harsh. China should just
throw the Olympic Games back to the feet of the IOC and let them handle the
trouble themselves. I am very disappointed with the IOC who did little or
nothing to curb their member countries from screwing up the Olympic Torch. Such
interruption is not only to embarrass China but also the IOC. They should just
warn their members that they [may] be suspended or expelled from the IOC or the
Olympic Games and that will reduce, or total cut off, those boycott talks and
interruptions. The IOC must issue a statement that those countries which do not
turn up for the Opening Ceremony shall be dropped or suspended from future
Olympic Games. China, just throw the Olympic Games back to the IOC. Organize
your own "China games" to welcome ... friendly countries. Leave out the US,
Britain, France, Germany, Canada and those Western countries ... Do something
and fight back, China! The Chinese of the world are behind our Motherland.
David Lim
Malaysia (Apr 29, '08)
I would like to congratulate Chan Akya for his latest piece,
Western excess is the Earth killer [Apr
26], which I found very interesting for two reasons. The first is the fact that
the author seems to have changed his mind regarding the environment. Not a very
long time ago, he likened environmentalists to terrorists. Never mind; one
should always welcome such developments. The second reason is the solution he
put forward for solving the environmental problems: reducing consumption in the
West. That's an excellent proposition and an even more surprising one coming
from Chan, the staunch advocate of free markets, unlimited growth and unlimited
consumption as the panacea for everything economic. Keep going, Chan, you are
on the right path to salvation. What happened to Spengler's soap opera on
Barack Obama? We had the episodes on the mother, the wife, the reverend ... we
can't wait for the one about the cousin Dick Cheney.
Daniel Mazir
Perth, Australia (Apr 29, '08)
Spengler is on vacation. He'll be back next Monday. But next up on ATol's
anticampaign trail is Pepe Escobar on John McCain (to prove we are without bias
and hate all the candidates equally). Hold on tight! - ATol
[Re
Doubting Obama, Apr 29] The great female breakthrough of
Hillary Clinton is not over, and her [goal] of reaching the highest office in
the United States is still a distant dream. She is still unbowed after the last
win and slugging away; encouraged with Pennsylvania's working class voters'
endorsement. It is yet to be seen if she will maintain her credibility in the
coming primaries after this convincing win - but the pundits give her a big
nod. Pennsylvania has the highest number of white voters over the age of 65
[except in Florida] and a substantial majority have diehard, deeply buried
prejudices against blacks. It is inconceivable for them to vote for a black
person ... who is running for the presidency of the US. Barack Obama won 92% of
the black votes in Pennsylvania, but 62% of over-65 whites, including many of
their young grandchildren, voted for Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama has to win
the hearts and minds of pensioners and he must appear to them to be a kinder
person, luring them with some incentives. [For example] by giving them winter
fuel allowances to keep warm, free prescriptions, increased pensions above the
rate of inflation, discounts on fuel bills (as in the UK) - whatever would be
fiscally possible. [If so] they will come running in hordes to back him in the
general election. It is the taboo nature of racism of old and young white
working class [voters] and rednecks that Obama must break to defeat McCain. He
has to very careful in the remaining months to not make disastrously misjudged
comments on smalltown working-class Americans to alienate himself from the
diehard ... "Reagan Democrats" who have backed Mrs Clinton so far. It is
interesting that a lot of white Americans say about him, "Here is a new guy
named Barack Obama, an African-American who wants to be our president and
commander-in-chief." That is a hell of a change for their old-age mentality to
accept. Finally, I am immensely delighted to read that so many ATol readers
find my letters interesting and pleasing to read. I offer my sincere gratitude
to them, and to ATol for publishing me. I am a very humble and ordinary writer
who always tries his best with the pen; an art, I learned from my wonderful
father.
Saqib Khan
UK (Apr 29, '08)
I have just read some of your readers' letters, and I want to add my own letter
of appreciation for your online newspaper. I have gotten very weary of the many
websites that have only opinion, and not much information. As an American, who
cannot rely on information in the American journals and newspapers anymore
(since they have all become "corporate controlled"), I treasure your more
international voice. I learn a great deal about world affairs when reading
ATol, and your online journal gives me a much wider perspective about what is
going on in the world. Thank you, and keep up the good work. You have some
really good journalists writing for you right now.
Katherine Halton
USA (Apr 29, '08)
The attack on [Afghanistan's President Hamid] Karzai's life is a clear
indication that his grip on power is slipping away. He is not even secure when
he is surrounded by his armed forces on an auspicious day to celebrate the
overthrow of the Soviet Union's illegal occupation 16 years ago. It was the
global Muslim freedom fighters, including the Taliban, who defeated the Soviet
empire in Afghanistan and not America’s puppets and poodles like Karzai and his
cabinet. It is such a shame and disgrace that Karzai has sold his conscience to
enslave his country once again to a different master, the Unites States of
America. It is not only the Taliban who want the US and NATO to leave their
country but also a majority of Afghanis, who prefer to live as free men
[rather] than become slaves of infidels with decadent morality. The Taliban are
gaining ground as the illegal occupation of their country is prolonged and the
West uses them as a means to their end to stay as long as possible in
Afghanistan. The country is in ruin with little progress under this Western
stooge government of Hamid Karzai.
Jalal Ahmed Rumi
Pakistan (Apr 28, '08)
[Re
Abdullah's second-chance reform drive, Apr 26] Politics the
second time around is never satisfying. [Malaysian] Prime Minister Abdullah
Badawi's plans for reforms will at best not remold the UMNO [United Malays
National Organization]. His own party's movers and shakers have [no]
confidence; the UMNO, figuratively speaking, is like Humpty Dumpty, once broken
you can never put him back together again. The initiative lies elsewhere unless
Abdullah steals Anwar Ibrahim by adopting his program of reform which puts a
brake on bumiputra favoritism and overcomes the alienation that has
spurred Indian and Chinese opposition to the UMNO.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Apr 28, '08)
Re
Western excess is the Earth killer, Apr 26. The carbon
credits scheme is pure, unadulterated bunk. Applying the same underlying logic,
could we then allow drug traffickers to pursue their pernicious trade if they
agreed to build rehab centers and hospitals? Steeped in elitism and highly
susceptible to political gaming, this harebrained idea actually shows that the
major environmental offenders are more interested in skirting the issue than in
honestly confronting and addressing it.
John Chen
USA (Apr 28, '08)
I’d like to take issue with Chan Akya’s dark humor in
Western excess is the Earth killer, Apr
26. There should have been no car. Western attempts to transfer the blame for
world-destroying consumption patterns to the people who make the products for
them are on par with the centuries old practice of blaming the Jewish people as
a whole for the Rothschilds and the Zionists in contemporary Israel. That said,
more and more China and other Asian nations are coming to resemble the
cigarette makers who provide people too addicted to stop with the products to
satisfy their habits. Worse, they are apparently becoming addicted themselves.
Western nations, under the sway of the "suicidal statecraft" practiced by
financial capitalism, have provided Asia with an unparalleled historical
opportunity to industrialize that old-fashioned imperialism would never have
permitted. But this whole pattern of wasteful consumption has to change. It
should have changed 100 years ago. There are simply too many of us to tolerate
any more "conspicuous consumption". Chan Akya seems to imply that, with a few
energy technology fixes, it can continue. After energy shortages, comes water
and then ... Please! Give us some hope! Preserve our stereotype that Asians are
smarter than the West, that they have been able to learn something from what we
have done to the world.
Steven Lesh (Apr 28, '08)
[Re Back
to the hard line on North Korea, Apr 26] No one can accuse
the Bush administration of subtlety in its betwixt and between policy towards
towards North Korea. Shifting gears, Mr Bush has now marshaled proof of Kim
Jong il's nefarious hand in Syria's nuclear designs. Yet, administration
officials [claim] that the latest CIA dog and pony show, in camera, with proof
of North Korea's long hand as a purveyor of nuclear reactors before a US
congressional committee, will in no way affect on-going discussions with
Pyongyang at the six-power talks, is difficult to believe. Washington's policy
towards North Korea since the 1990s is a record of giving with one hand and
taking with another so that for reasons of internal and external consumption it
needs to keep the North Korea bugaboo alive in order to fuel its
military-industrial complex at home and maintain the role of tripwire mediator
in east Asia. Mr Bush knows that any slight to North Korea will harden
Pyongyang's resolve in further delaying a meeting of the minds on the nuclear
question. Since no one remembers Washington's torpedoing of an Israeli offer of
several billions of dollars almost twenty years ago to North Korea with the
express purpose of stopping North Korea's export of advanced military rocketry,
it is time to bring that offer up again, the more especially since Washington
put its veto on the deal. It does not take much to draw conclusions as to the
whys and wherefores of such Cold War thinking. If Mr Bush's CIA sideshow is a
warning to Iran, it appears amateurish since its immediate effect is to derail
any deal with North Korea. As Donald Kirk reports, Kim Dae Jung's words will
prevail: one way or the other Mr Bush or his successor will have to compose
with Kim Jong il.
Mel Cooper Singapore (Apr 28, '08)
I have been for a long time a keen reader of ATol and find it amazingly
intellectual reading. It is one of the best online magazines that should be
read by every graduate and post-graduate of politics, history, economics and
world affairs. I say without any hesitation that the majority of the authors of
articles are exceptionally knowledgeable, well read, well versed, but a few are
very prejudiced on race and religion. Some of the letter writers are highly
scholarly, witty and express themselves extremely well and are worth
mentioning: Saqib Khan, Jakob Cambria, Vincent Maadi and too many more to
mention them all. I find Saqib Khan from the UK often very assertive in his
expression and opinion but also full of humor on occasions. I wish that I could
once again read one of his letters, on "fecundity”, that he wrote few years
ago. Has he written any thing of humor recently? Please oblige.
G Ever Best (Apr 28, '08)
Saqib Khan's letter on fecundity can be found
on this page (scroll down to letters of
May 10, 2006). Here is an excerpt from another of his letters, dated May 26,
2006: ... This reminds me about a story of a poor Indian farmer
who could only afford to buy one loaf of bread every week to feed his family.
On the other hand his master could afford to buy many loaves plus meat,
vegetables, rice and cake. Things [got] worse; the farmer was mad at his master
for sleeping with his daughter and refused to plant the wheat crop to punish
his master, causing the price of bread to double, [then] treble. The poor man
could not afford a loaf and his children died of hunger. The master [was] still
rich, complained about the inflationary price but bought a loaf of bread every
day. The farmer's wife got mad at her husband for not making any money from
selling the crop, so she went to see his master and asked for a loan. He agreed
but on the condition that she would have to go to bed with him. So the wife
bought two loaves of bread, vegetables and rice and a cake with the money. At
the dinner table, the farmer told his wife that his decision not to grow wheat
was wise, after all. The wife smiled and told him to enjoy his dinner because
often decisions have unintended consequences. - ATol
Wu Zhong's
Time to outgrow boycott calls [Apr 23] gives a good review
of the Chinese public's reaction to the unfriendly actions of some
irresponsible Western media and politicians. It might be true that a boycott of
foreign goods, say, French ones, will be a double-bladed sword and harm Chinese
themselves while delivering impact on targets. Nevertheless, we should also
come to understand that the boycott campaign does reflect a kind of
"democracy", as it comes from the bottom of the Chinese people's hearts. The
public has their own "rights" to express their social and political demands. In
all, what concerns me most is that some self-important people such as CNN
commentator Jack Cafferty and German Chancellor Angela Merkel should be aware
of the price of offending a population of 1.3 billion. The boycott just
reflects the surface of the ocean of anger ... below it there might be wounds
and hatred. Come on, those who are promoting the boycott of Carrefour are not
as stupid a group as expected. They are well-educated. They are the future of
China. Comments on
Olympic paranoia causes visa hurdles, Apr 25, by Kent Ewing:
See, Mr Ewing, some innocent people are suffering from the so-called "peaceful
demonstration" now. When the US took measures to control the flow of visitors
after the 2001 terrorist attack, did you come out to utter your complaint on
behalf of innocent travellers? Now China is trying to check the terrorists for
the good the Games. Who is to blame? We can anyhow accuse Beijing of making
trouble and showing sympathy/support to the troublemakers behind the scene -
the Dalai Lamas and their Western bosses?
Careful Cat
Lhasa, China (Apr 28, '08)
Gareth Porter is right about Cheney's evil influence in
Petraeus' rise lets Cheney loose on Iran,
April 25. This evidence-free charge of "special groups" controlled by Iran was
made up by Petraeus in February, 2007, in order to divide the Mahdi Army and
blame all problems on Iran. It was made up, period. In fact, the number two
commander of all US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant General Lloyd J Austin III, when
pressed hard by reporters on April 23 admitted that "they [so-called "special
groups"], are so amorphous. They go back and forth between each other. It is
not like we have the Dallas Cowboys versus the Houston Oilers. It's just not as
clear." And, if you ask the experts on the ground in Iraq, they will tell you
that all Shi'ite fighters in Sadr City and Basra are members of the Mahdi Army.
Vice President Cheney has a long history of making things up to fit his agenda.
The mantra for this bunch is "if things are not going right in Iraq, blame
Iran". As this occupation of Iraq continues to spiral out of control, who can
forget Cheney's role as chief architect telling us that the US would be
"greeted as liberators"? And, who can forget his support for Saddam during the
Iran-Iraq war? One thing is certain about Cheney and his cohorts. They have no
shame; lies and half truths are recycled and repeated over and over again with
a straight face. Cheney's main objective is not just to threaten Iran, but it
is to use the hammer of fear to frighten the American public once again so that
they would vote for his party in November. By his thinking, a bungled
occupation, an economy in distress, a president with the lowest approval rating
in history, and mountains of debt for the foreseeable future can all be trumped
by fear. But, this time, after having played that card once too often, they're
in for a rude awakening.
Fariborz S Fatemi
Former Professional Staff Member
House Foreign Affairs Committee
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
McLean, Virginia, USA (Apr 25, '08)
[Re
Petraeus' rise lets Cheney loose on Iran, Apr 25] This
article was poorly researched and missed many key points. First, Admiral
William Fallon was promoted over many others under president Bill Clinton as a
protege. Second, a president is commander in chief, [therefore] the president
is his commander. The commander sets over all policy, not an underling. Third,
Fallon represents traditional military thought that doesn't work so well with
asymmetric warfare. Petraeus is more of a Special Operations kind of soldier;
one who knows how to fight asymmetric warfare better than a traditional
military man. Iran and Afghanistan and, for that matter, the ["war on terror"]
are asymmetric battles. Having Fallon run CENTCOM [Central Command] is like
having a buggy whip manufacturer run the early Ford Motor Company.
Jim Miro (Apr 25, '08)
Asia Times is usually a trusted source of information that is not necessarily
available elsewhere. Richard M Bennett's blatant propaganda piece
Iran's 'bomb' and dud intelligence [Apr
23] is an unfortunate exception to the rule. It's a shameful piece of
non-journalism that would no doubt be welcomed by any Murdoch newspaper. Even a
casual check of his anecdotes by a good editor would make this obvious. I hope
it's not repeated, as there are precious few media resources left in the world
that can actually be trusted.
Julian Welch (Apr 25, '08)
The article
A Maoist in Nepal's Palace [Apr 19] by Mr Dhruba Adhikary
seems to be useful in finding the real happenings [and] challenges and [for]
foreseeing the future crisis most likely to occur in Nepal out of [the] many
games being playing by visible and invisible actors in [Nepal] and abroad. The
conclusion finally drawn by the well-known political commentator Mr Adhikary is
... quite realistic when saying "the Maoists won't stop their journey until
they reached their final destination". However, the ... former rebel forces ...
are one of the main parties ... responsible for the mercilessly killing of
thousands of innocent lives ... There needs to be a realization of reality, of
the real aspiration of the people and current democratic trends in the world as
well. The current national and international environments are not very positive
and favorable to for the Maoists to fully implement their goal, that is why the
sooner they realize reality, the better ... Currently, Nepal is seeking
statesman to deal [with] this very fragile and liquid situation, but there seem
[to be] none so far [besides] the exceptional late B P Koirala. ... It was the
a great and visionary national policy which B P Koirala named "National
Reconciliation". This policy was framed by the late great leader based on his
long painful life and experiences. [Its] relevancy has been much increased in
[present-day] Nepal where some external forces are trying to cultivate their
tactics ... through the dangerous design of dividing people and political
powers in Nepal.
Dibakar Pant
St Paul, USA (Apr 25, '08)
Is President Bush reversing gears on Secretary of State Rice's engaging North
Korea? It certainly seems so judging by Asia Times Online posting Agence France
Presse's "US to detail N Korea Syria nuclear cooperation". Can one rely on the
leak "citing unnamed senior US officials"? One has to raise a skeptical eyebrow
at this breaking story reported in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
The Israelis bombed Syria's construction site alleged to be the home of its
infant nuclear industry on September 6, 2007. So, is it not natural to ask why,
after seven months, a video showing North Koreans inside a Syrian reactor has
surfaced? It is not the first time the Bush administration has floated false
clues. The US relied, much to its embarrassment, on the testimony of a North
Korean defector who swore that the Kim dynasty was on the verge of collapse. It
wasn't and the defector's proof, based on rumor, evaporated in the fresh wind
of verification. We could mention the name of Ahmed Chalabi and his false
information which gave much grist to Bush's windmills for a pre-emptive strike
against Saddam Hussein. Bush has a pronounced distaste for dealing with North
Korea. He has tried to isolate it totally so that its collapse would bring
about the regime change that he so wanted [ever] since labeling Pyongyang an
"axis of evil state". Absent from new US charges of North Korea's hand in
Syria's hardly nascent nuclear industry is the Israeli hand. It won't be the
first nor the last time, [the US] is willing to share false data for its own
regional and hegemonic designs.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Apr 25, '08)
If things don't "work out" for Obama and the Democrats, is it too early to
start considering an Obama and, perhaps, Colin Powell independent ticket?
T Sullivan
USA (Apr 25, '08)
Recently the Pentagon revised its threshold for recruiting men and women with
criminal backgrounds. People who would have been rejected before because of
their criminal histories are now welcomed with open arms to a military whose
ranks are being depleted by death and demoralization. Bottomless pit wars will
tend to do that to you. Boundless praise and hosannas are routinely heaped on
the troops serving in the twin failures of Iraq and Afghanistan, those Middle
East [conflicts] that have merged into one all-consuming blob of imperialist
fantasies. No one in the US wants to hear about the daily atrocities and
revenge killings that these embittered and angry young Americans perpetrate on
the ... people they supposedly want to "liberate" (new Pentagon definition:
indigenous [people's] death by rifle, artillery or air-delivered ordinance
constitutes "life liberation".) When the odd event does manage to sneak past
the rose-colored filters of the corporate-controlled media, it is instantly
dismissed as an "aberration" or "the bad apple" instead of the truth (so
unpalatable these days in America), that these are mere tips of vast, submerged
desert icebergs. Thus, what can be more apropos and ironic than having real
criminals living up to the criminal standards that a criminal president has set
for a criminal war (conducted with criminal negligence and incompetence) that
has made criminals of all who sink deeper and deeper into the [problem]. Alas,
that criminality includes the members of the pseudo-democracy that spawned it
with so much collective enthusiasm not so long ago.
Hardy Campbell
Houston, Texas (Apr 25, '08)
Regarding
Clinton chalks up key meaningless victory [Apr 24], by
Muhammad Cohen: If the Democrats do not win [the 2008 US presidential
election], it would most certainly be claimed that Hillary Clinton lost them
the election ... This very chilly white woman, whom 40% Americans view with
hysterical dislike, [is also] the wife of former president Bill Clinton [which]
carries a certain stigma of nepotism and dynastic oligarchy. The crucial enigma
about Hillary is what she stands for, her domestic and foreign policies and
what kind of president she would become - and if she would be good enough. She
is a very calculating stage-management perfectionist and, with a chillingly
cool demeanor, appears to frighten many men ... But despite all her flaws,
anything will be worth seeing the ... hawk G W Bush kicked out of the White
House and replaced by someone who can inspire and unite the American people ...
In Clairton, Pennsylvania, the steel town’s white residents have shown open
hostility to Barack Obama. Hillary is dividing Democrats and her divisive
campaign is gaining many votes for John McCain ... Barack Obama has the certain
charm and attraction that was once the monopoly of the Kennedy brothers and he
was supported by Bobby Kennedy’s wife when she said in her endorsement speech,
"Barack is so much like Bobby with courage, caring and charisma and leading us
toward a kinder and gentle world." The fact is that Obama has the ability to
pull crowds from across all divides of Americans irrespective of their skin
color. This is so sadly missing in Hillary. Has this woman warm blood or cold?
Saqib Khan
UK (Apr 24, '08)
[Re
US media the last hurdle for China buyouts, Apr 24] The US
found no trouble in the sale of an IBM division to a Chinese company with ties
to the Chinese government. Today we recognize the PC manufacturer by its brand
Lenovo. When it comes to selling American media outlets to a Chinese SOE
[state-owned enterprise] that's another kettle of fish. Mr Wilkins may bring up
the example of the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who recently bought the
influential Wall Street Journal. A citizen of Australia, he traded citizenship
for a US passport to snap up American media companies. It is doubtful a Chinese
SOE would become completely Americanized, and even if it did, questions would
remain about its loyalty. A recent sentencing of a China-born man who was
sentenced to prison for selling secrets to China is a case in point. His
attachment to the land of his birth overrode his loyalty to his adopted
country. Murdoch could buy what he wanted because he's a dyed-in-the-wool
capitalist. No country would sell the media companies to a country which,
although friendly as China is with the US, has its record of long distrust and
questionable practices. [This] cannot be washed away.
Nakamura Junzo
Guam (Apr 24, '08)
This sounds like a joke question, but it's not: Why is your paper so good?
There are lots of others which should be as good or better, yet they're not.
Again, how does your paper manage to be so good?
Mike Booth
Granada, Spain (Apr 24, '08)
The fact that the word "corporate" is not in our dictionary is probably a great
boon. - ATol
It is OK to have ads to offset the cost of the server. But it will be good if
they are decent ones not half-naked bodies. I read ATol at home and I don't
want these kind of ads when my children are playing around me.
Masood Allawala (Apr 24, '08)
[Re
Muqtada's biggest battle already won, Apr 23] This article
goes against the unrelenting tide of propaganda coming out of the American mass
media. Just as Condoleezza Rice is calling Muqtada al-Sadr a coward, [Sreeram]
Chaulia makes her look silly. But Rice isn't the only personage to strike a
note of desperation: for instance, cabinet members now feel free to blame the
Air Force for American failures in Afghanistan and Iraq. Conversely, a former
military chief has just said that the civilian leadership in Washington was
responsible for encouraging torture. As the presidential election looms, we'll
be seeing more and more individual efforts to protect reputations that have
already been lost. The tactic of kicking the problem down the road seemed to
make sense, but it didn't allow for human frailty.
Harald Hardrada
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA (Apr 23, '08)
[Re
Just staying alive, Apr 22] Thanks, Doug Wakefield, for
corroborating one of my investment strategies going forward - shorting the
stock markets. Watching the Dow blithely charge upward despite a nimiety of
ominous signs pointing to a financial-market meltdown helps one better
understand why and how the Bush-Cheney gang was given a second term in the
White House. Separately, Wu Zhong’s call for calm and reason amid the current
firestorm of Chinese nationalism [Time
to outgrow boycott calls, Apr 23] is understandable, perhaps
even admirable. However, an unwavering adherence to rationality runs the risk
of breeding predictability. Inaction at this time by China may actually help
spawn new incidents down the road, say, shortly before the commencement of the
Olympics. Lastly, ATol’s new front-page layout - with the News Video, Business
Headlines and Breaking News features - looks rather ... cool.
John Chen
USA (Apr 23, '08)
[Re
Carter spreads a new doctrine, Apr 23] It must have been a
slow news week. Hamas has offered numerous times since it was elected the
governing party of the Occupied Territories a 10-year truce with Israel. It
seems you are blinded by US and Israeli propaganda - Hamas is the elected
government and not Fatah. Fatah, in fact, did exactly what many African leaders
do when voted out of office - they staged a coup to hang on. Abbas, Fatah, the
PLO were not in power, Hamas was, much to the dismay and horror of Israel and
the US who have done everything possible since to assist the quisling Abbas in
his power grab to the point of jailing without charge enough elected Hamas MPs
to render the government without a quorum. Imagine if the Palestinians had
interfered in the elections and government of Israel or the US what a circus
would have ensued. Take off your Israeli-US colored glasses.
Vivien Martin (Apr 23, '08)
[Re
Carter spreads a new doctrine, Apr 23] Jimmy Carter's put
his finger squarely in the eye of the Bush administration's road map to peace.
Mr Bush is fully consistent in his policy of isolating politically,
economically, and militarily Hamas. Mr Carter is a realist who [does not]
suffer fools gladly. His meeting with Hamas' Khaled Mashel in Damascus has
blown sky high Israel's and America's futile policy to quarantine and crush
Hamas. Mr Carter is not fool either; he knows full well that the Bush
administration and the pro-Israel forces in the US will [hamper] his efforts.
He has broken taboos, and suddenly the ground in Palestinian and Israeli has
shifted, and as today's Financial Times of London editorial tersely put it, he
has saved Israel from itself. It is not nothing that he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize [in 2002].
Jakob Cambria
USA (Apr 23, '08)
Many thanks to Sami Moubayed for his informative article
Carter spreads a new doctrine, Apr 23.
Both Al Gore and Jimmy Carter are contributing to peace of this world. People
will remember them. Unfortunately, these days the world still has some media
and analysts who ... fear that the world can enjoy peace and then they will not
be able to profit from the pain of other peoples and [the] wars and riots in
other countries. Engagement, not isolation nor value-based misunderstanding,
can make the god smile.
Careful Cat
Lhasa, China (Apr 23, '08)
This morning's ATol included two letters that attest to both the purview and
wide-ranging readership of your website. Both Mr Vincent Maadi in Cape Town,
South Africa, and Mr Hardy Campbell in Houston, Texas, confirm an appreciation
[and provide] voices of moderation and understanding rather than ones of
vilification and violence. Both need to be congratulated for their views and
for sharing them with ATol's readers.
Armand De Laurell (Apr 23, '08)
[Re Time
to outgrow boycott calls, Apr 23] Wu Zhong is simply wrong
in his criticism of Chinese people boycotting French goods. Diplomatic protests
mean nothing and will accomplish nothing. Other countries are closely watching
what China is doing. If China doesn't do anything, I'm afraid there'll be more
funny business cooked up by the West in the future. Past boycotts in Chinese
history didn't work because at those times the Chinese market was small. A lot
of people believe that France was not the main country in cooking up the
Tibetan riots. Has Wu Zhong ever heard the Chinese saying "Kill the chicken to
warn the monkey"?
Tang (Apr 23, '08)
[Re Time
to outgrow boycott calls, Apr 23] The cry to boycott French
products did not come from [the] Chinese government. It was sounded by the
anger of millions of Chinese people frustrated with the way Western media
distort every bit of news to put down China. Using their wide network of news
agencies, these news media such as CNN, BBC [and] Fox News have consistently
put out negative news on China. To blame China for the news distortion is
unfounded as they clearly cut out the pictures to fit their intended message.
Also, even if there was a blackout of news coming out from Xizang [Tibet], that
does not entitle the media to publish news that they could not verify. In fact,
they use data coming out of the pro-Tibet group more than those coming from
Chinese sources. Whenever there are protests from China, Western media always
claim these are orchestrated by Chinese government. The demonstrations in
Paris, London and Berlin supporting China and the Olympics clearly indicate
that these are spontaneous reactions of overseas Chinese and students. It is
evident that some of these news agencies have become tools of Western hegemony
and they cannot be trusted for their fair reporting. Boycotts are not good for
anybody but this is the only way common Chinese people know that is within
their power of expression. CNN does not bother with the third call for apology
from the Chinese government regarding Jack Cafferty's lewd statement against,
he claimed, the Chinese government. Maybe it's time for Chinese government to
think if CNN's purpose of doing business in China is justified.
Wendy Cai
USA (Apr 23, '08)
The article
Time to outgrow boycott calls by Wu Zhong on April 23 makes
sense until the last sentence: "why ... still resorting to irrational and
fruitless boycotts of foreign products?" It is the foreign dignitaries who
started the boycott of the Olympics' opening ceremony, the governments which
[didn't post] guards to protect the Torch Relay in an effort to humiliate
China, the Western media who highlighted the disruption and not the happy
crowds welcoming the torch, all of [those who] followed the biased reporting on
the Tibet disturbance. Beating and burning are justified by "lack of religious
freedom" and the lawful policing work as "brutal suppression". Now it is all
right for CNN to publicly humiliate the Chinese government, but not for the
Chinese people to express their anger. In case the few Western media outlets do
not know, including Mr Wu Zhong, over a hundred [world] governments have
expressed their support of the way China has handled the Tibetan riots. I think
it is perfectly natural and justified for the Chinese people to feel angry just
because Mr Wu Zhong does not feel angry. However, the Chinese government has
been more tempered and has called for calm. Now that the ridiculous sideshows
have been staged and instigated, the glorious main events will come to pass in
August.
Seung Li (Apr 23, '08)
ATol, I wish all my girlfriends were like you. To my pleasant surprise today
you added videos, and not some dog in a tutu. You're getting better with age,
and I love you. Please don't be afraid to put stuff from al-Jazeera on there,
and [other] articles that we can't get anywhere else. I know that it's not
easy, but I look forward to this. Also, your ads are getting mainstream, a long
way from when the page was pretty empty. I guess that lots of important folks
are turning on to you [and] I don't mind taking a little credit for that. Even
though I often wanted to keep the knowledge to myself to seem smarter because
your info is ahead of the curve and [is] real on-the-ground stuff, But, alas, I
always told people to go to atimes.com and check it out; That's where the truth
is (except for Spengler) so keep it up - you're doing great. I am very
impressed with your commercial growth and the strength of your articles is
still there if not [even] more quality, good stuff. Love for you, keep it up.
Jubin Ajdari (Apr 23, '08)
Al-Jazeera, unfortunately but understandably, has not offered us their content
free of charge. Our new video and breaking news content comes to you courtesy
of an arrangement with the wire services, eg, Reuters and AFP, and it's all we
can afford. Thanks for the kind words. - ATol
[Re Bush
and Lee talk T-bones and bombs, Apr 23] No 10-ton gorilla
sprang out the bush to disturb the Bush-Lee meeting at Camp David. The two
conservative presidents simply passed lightly over North Korea. What the
meeting of the presidents of the United States and South Korea did highlight
was that Mr Bush does control the pace and direction of South Korean issues.
Seoul's economic policies are moderated by America's concerns: read opening
South Korea to US beef imports and widening access of its goods and capital. As
for the continued stationing of American troops in South Korea at a high level,
Mr Lee's pleas fell on deaf ears for its military policy is circumscribed by
Pentagon needs. Since Mr Lee campaigned for tighter ties with the US during the
recent South Korean presidential elections, he has had no choice but to mould
his public statements to mimic American demands. Mel Cooper
(Apr 23, '08)
Singapore
If you don't stop displaying pop-up ads, I will visit your site less often, and
will install the ad blocking software. Idiots.
Lew Glendenning (Apr 23, '08)
Idiots that we are, we pay for our content with the help of pop-up ads. All ATol
costs you, Lew, is a little annoyance. One alternative to pop-up ads is making
the website available only to subscribers. Or you could just send us US$5,000
per month. - ATol
Reading
Iran's 'bomb' and dud intelligence [Apr 23], by Richard M
Bennett, reminded me how effortlessly Israeli agents produce and disseminate
their disinformation. Iran is a signatory to the NPT [nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty], what they are doing is perfectly acceptable under the NPT. I'd like to
see Mr Bennett do a similar innuendo-filled piece on Israel, which is not a
signatory to the NPT and which has, unlike the Iranians, actually built and is
prepared to deploy nuclear weapons. If the US had dealt with the Israeli
nuclear weapons program with the same vigor that it appears to deal with the
Iranian nuclear power program, Iran, and many other countries near Israel would
likely be more open to cooperation. We are beginning to see the long-term costs
of US and Israeli "exceptionalist" policies. H Annen (Apr
23, '08)
Regarding
Iran's 'bomb' and dud intelligence [Apr 23], by Richard M
Bennett. Speaking of dud intelligence, is this the same flawed and largely
discredited Richard M Bennett who, prior to the 2003 attack on Iraq, held the
considered opinion that al-Qaeda had 200 trained operatives in Iraq capable of
carrying out CBW attacks? Did Asia Times Online pay Richard M Bennett, or did
he pay you? Does Richard M Bennett have some intrinsic virtue that gives him
access to your pages? Or was this article a professional courtesy between
purveyors of mushrooms (feed them manure and keep them in the dark)? In the
recent exchange of threats between Israel and Iran, while Iranian leaders
threaten destruction of the Israel/Palestine governing regime, Israeli leaders
threaten the destruction of the Iranian nation - as in "people". Given the
example of the ongoing destruction of the Palestinian nation by the
nuclear-armed Israeli regime, it seems logical that the Iranian regime would
seek a nuclear deterrent if it seriously aims to change the behavior of the
Israeli regime.
David George (Apr 23, '08)
Richard Bennett's
Iran's 'bomb' and dud intelligence [Apr 23] presents timely
and cogent points about a top-tier international security
problem/issue/situation. A useful reference, reinforcing Bennett's main points,
with very long historical perspective, is Legacy of Ashes, A History of the CIA,
by Tim Weiner, a thoroughly researched and abundantly sourced work which
documents scores of intelligence failures. In recent decades, the billions of
dollars spent on "national technical means (NTMs)" has apparently not closed an
abiding "accuracy and timeliness" gap regarding high priority US intelligence
topics/targets. Regarding the lead-in to the Iraq War, to my knowledge, there
has not been an adequate explanation regarding two central factors: Did these
NTMs produce the required imagery and other data regarding Iraq's WMD
activities during the years leading up to the decision to invade? And, if the
NTMs functioned as designed and described, why were the analysts not able to
properly interpret and analyze the data? If the NTMs did not function as
designed, the US Government should have recouped billions of dollars from the
contractors who designed and built them. If they did function properly, scores
of analysts and their superiors should have been fired, or even brought up on
criminal malfeasance charges. As in so many endeavors, the Bush Administration
has achieved yet another nadir in governance and ethics through the
manipulation, selectivity, and prevarications it has perpetrated regarding
national intelligence processes and products. Now, Douglas Feith, one of the
neo-con "idiotlogue" ringleaders in the Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz dysfunctional
Department of Defense, has continued his ego-paroxysm by having his book, War
and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at The Dawn of the War on Terrorism,
newly published. Feith was the chief operator of Rumsfeld's shadow intelligence
operation which tried to justify the neo-cons' parallel universe of
geopolitical and WMD fantasies. The best uses for his book are (1) material for
charges in a bill of indictment for criminal malfeasance while in office; and
(2) lining for bird cages.
Sagacity Seeker
USA (Apr 23, '08)
Dear Mr Spengler, I loved your article just out [Rice,
death and dollar, Apr 21] but, um, if the monk was wearing a saffron
robe, he was Thai; Tibetan monks hang out in burgundy and sunshine yellow garb
only.
Arthur Borges (Apr 22, '08)
Regarding Rice,
death and dollar [Apr 21], by Spengler: I enjoyed reading it and offer
my comments. The solution to global economic crisis would be to stop China
saving so much and to re-inject demand back into the world. But persuading
[China] to do that was a task beyond central bankers. It is still a global
challenge facing global economies and political leaders. The main trouble now
is the US housing market decline engulfing the world, losses by banks in the
UK, US and around the world because of uncontrolled and crooked lending which
have brought subprime mortgage paper, the liquidity crisis and pessimism about
equities. Low-interest rates have their origin in China as lending was made
cheaper and demand became rampant, resulting in the impending global recession,
high food and fuel prices. China has been hogging all the world brass, copper,
zinc, steel and now rice, wheat and carrots to save for rainy days and lean
years. China may not be America's equal yet, but of all other contenders it
will win the race in the not-too-distant future. The Iraq war and mishandling
of the economy by US President George W Bush has jeopardized not only its own
economy but also the global one. "If you sink, you all sink with me," has been
[Bush's] economic policy. The Chinese economy is growing at a rate nearly three
times the US's and is prudently projected to catch up in terms of GDP by 2041.
The fact is that the US is currently running a trade deficit of approximately
8% of GDP, and a large part of that deficit is financed by China in the form of
purchases of American bonds, so both sides have become interdependent. It is a
weird situation: economic rivals, political adversaries and increasingly
competing as No 1 and No 2 consumers of the world's energy resources. The
average American earns US$40,000 per annum, but has savings of 0%, whereas a
Chinese earns hardly $1,500 per year but has savings of 23% of his income, and
a large part of it his bankers are lending to the Americans. There is also this
matter of consumption. The US consumes fully 25% of world oil supplies. China
and India are growing rapidly and their economies consume more and more oil.
China currently consumes 8.2% of the world's oil production. Soon it will
increase to 10% or even 14%. Where is that oil going to come from? Is the US
willing to reduce its share for China? No. So, it must invade Iran to capture
its oil reserves.
Saqib Khan
UK (Apr 22, '08)
I refer to Rice,
death and the dollar, by Spengler on April 21. The greatest threat to
mankind is coming from warmongers in the US, their powers can be clipped by
implementing following program in this order:
1. End the war in Iraq and Afghanistan: instant saving of 3 trillion
dollars.
2. End financial and military support of Israel: instant savings of
hundreds of billions of dollars.
3. Remove all neo-cons and Israel-firsters from American federal, state and
local governments and all political parties: instant liberation of
America from foreign influence.
4. Close down all commodity exchanges: instant end of commodity
speculation and end of hunger and saving of hundreds of millions human lives.
5. Tear up the GATT agreement: instant end of neo-colonialism over Third
World countries.
6. Bring back the gold standard: end of inflation and finance
capitalism.
7. Shut down the United Nations:: instant saving of billions of dollars
and human lives.
8. Stop subsidizing [the] weapons industry: instant boost to industries
producing for the needs of civil societies and end of wars.
9. Destroy all nuclear weapons: societies can start living without fear.
Vincent Maadi
Cape Town, South Africa (Apr 22, '08)
[Re Room for two:
US, Iran in the Middle East, Apr 21] Trita Parsi always brings a breath
of fresh air to discussions on Iran and the United States in the Middle East.
He once again states the obvious that the next American president will have to
work out a solution to restore stability in Iraq with the Islamic Republic of
Iran. A solution which will encompass American concerns and fears, but one
which will dampen the US's expansionist designs on the region, thereby
recognizing the political role of Shi'ites in Iraq. Yet it is necessary to
point out that Shi'ite Iran and Shi'ite-dominated Iraq do not share completely
identical views and will necessarily not see eye-to-eye when it comes down to
each country's national interests. Should Washington and Tehran work out a modus
vivendi, the big loser will be Israel; and as an American client, it
will accept the new reality, but with its usual bad grace.
Mel Cooper
Singapore (Apr 22, '08)
In Trita Parsi's article
Room for two: US, Iran in the Middle East [Apr 21], Parsi stresses that
the US must accommodate Iranian desires even though he writes that Iran is
reluctant to clarify what it wants. He talks as if the US and Iran are equal
powers, however, the US could lay waste to Iran from the air in a matter of
hours, completely destroying Iran's air force and navy. Iran is responsible for
the death of hundreds of US servicemen dating back to the 1980s in Lebanon;
they correctly assume the US is too frightened or stupid to do anything to stop
their reign of terror. The US cannot take action against Iran while 160,000 US
soldiers are in danger of Iranian terror attacks. It is time for the US to
withdraw and consolidate its troops in Iraq so the US can balance the ledger
with Iran. The US will not need to worry about Iranian desires when their power
to achieve their aims will have been greatly reduced. The Iranian mullah
government will always be an enemy of the US and take measures to injure the US
and its interests. In the end, regime change is the only effective plan towards
Iran and the US has never made a serious effort in that direction.
Dennis O'Connell USA (Apr 22, '08)
All the moral indignation coming from Westerners about China and Tibet and
human-rights violations [China
bunkers down behind its great wall Apr 16] made me wonder: How would
Western countries have fared in the good ol' days of wanton imperialism? So I
imagine some of the headlines in the 19th century: "Chinese Emperor Denounces
Slaughter of Red Indians by US Army"; "Siamese King Decries Manufactured Excuse
for US War with Mexico." How about "Lynching of Blacks in American South
Criticized by Ethiopian Emperor Menelik?" And the list could go on and on. The
point is, what country has not had its period of turmoil, created by ethnic
conflicts, economic disparities and religious antagonisms? I dare say if we
compared how many indigenous North and South Americans were exterminated by
European-descended peoples, the numbers would far exceed those of any non-white
nation. And it appears the Westerners concerned about these rights
transgressions have selective tastes and memories; the Sudanese conflict has
been around for more than 20 years before this sudden outburst of George
Clooney-inspired activism, and the Buddhist majority's repression of Tamil
rights in Sri Lanka has been assiduously avoided by these so-called human
rights activists for the 30 years that civil war has been going on. Perhaps the
latter is because the typical Western liberal has been brainwashed into
equating Buddhism with peace and love and social equality (the myth that has
got them so juiced up about Tibet.) That China's possessions of Tibet and
Xinjiang have been recognized for decades by all nations and is totally within
its rights to suppress civil disturbances seems not to matter a whit to the
Western white who still has images of Mongol hordes and Yellow Perils lurking
in their collective zeitgeist. But since China is the latest substitute for the
Soviet Union (al-Qaeda just can't quite cut the mustard in this regard), any
excuse to pillory them and deflect attention from Western violations of
international law and humanity comes in quite handy. China is successful
internationally precisely because it has chosen a different path than the
militaristic pseudo-diplomacy of the West, yet Westerners want them to violate
that success strategy and engage in Western-style interference in the Sudan
conflict. This level of hypocrisy staggers the imagination. Perhaps the West
should be more like the East, not vice versa. But that philosophy will never
fly in the Western know-it-all mindset that all good things originate in their
hemisphere. The bottom line is the Western modality of thinking is
fundamentally racist and two-faced; Asians will always be perceived as slightly
less than human, with only the thin veneer of civilization cloaking their
barbarism, and that any analogous behavior on the part of whites is merely
their way of spreading Judeo-Christian, Greco-Roman values, which everyone
knows is the guiding light of the universe. ...
Hardy Campbell
Houston, Texas, USA (Apr 22, '08)
This letter refers to Dhruba Adhikary's article
A Maoist in Nepal's palace [Apr 19]. After reading the article one can
easily envision the possible political trajectory that Nepal is likely to
follow. As the author has rightly pointed out, the country is undoubtedly
poised for drifting from ... a monarchical feudalism to a communist republic
driven by totalitarian ambition in the Stalinist model. The most significant
part of the article is the writer's reference to the signature campaign
launched by Baburam Bhattarai, the second in command in Nepal's Maoist
hierarchy, in the early 1990s denouncing [former] president Alberto Fujimori of
Peru and demanding the release of the Shining Path guerilla leader Gonzalo. In
fact, the Shining Path movement formed the role model for Nepal's Maoist
insurgency. Adhikary has somewhat obliquely pointed out that India was the sole
savior of the Maoist leaders during the insurgency period and the 12-point
agreement, signed in the Indian capital with the covert assistance from the
Indian establishment, is its irrefutable proof. For all practical purposes,
India was behind the entire Maoist operation against the monarchy and the
democratic institution established in the aftermath of the people's movement of
1990. However, the author has wittingly or unwittingly failed to point out that
the just-concluded polls in Nepal were not for forming a parliament or
assembling a government with radical political agendas. The electoral exercise
was meant for electing representatives for drafting a statute that would shape
the destiny of the nation. But the Maoists, having felt the pulse of the
power-hungry Prime Minister [Girija Prasad] Koirala, have misused the popular
mandate and are heading for implementing their radical agendas. Koirala cannot
shy away from shouldering responsibility for such a political debacle. His
insatiable lust for power and parochial hangover are the major contributing
factors.
Ratna Bahadur Rai
Kathmandu (Apr 21, '08)
[Re Afghanistan
moves to center stage, Apr 19] another slam bang home run of an article
by MKB [M K Bhadrakumar] that had at least two semesters of political science
work concisely woven together with brilliant prose and analysis into one
article. I feel educated and indebted. Thank you ATol.
Jubin Ajdari (Apr 21, '08)
[Re Petraeus hid
Maliki's resistance to US troops, Apr 19] Gareth Porter either misleads
your readers or just doesn't want to acknowledge his compatriots' incompetence.
What gives it away is that Porter fails to mention [Supreme Iraqi Islamic
Council head Abdul Aziz] al-Hakim's closeness to Iran's leaders, a closeness
far tighter than that of his rival [Muqtada] al-Sadr. Maybe Porter doesn't want
to besmirch the reputation of the American vice president [Dick Cheney], who
heaps praise on Hakim while continuing to cast Iran as the villain responsible
for American failure. Or maybe Porter wants to boost the American military
chief in Iraq so that he can keep building walls dividing the Iraqi people. It
was only after the fiasco became apparent that Americans started hearing how
their leaders were surprised when the Iraqi puppet government ignored American
advice in carrying out the Basra attack, as if American air support hadn't been
readily available to cause the deaths of women and children, thus swelling the
body count that American leaders still cherish despite its fruitlessness in
Vietnam. As long as commentators like Porter insist on getting their facts from
those who wield power in Washington, the American people won't learn how the
death and destruction their nation is visiting on Iraq will come back to haunt
them. Instead, the latest American controversy centers on whether Iraq is
costing American taxpayers too much, which shows that the only way to get past
American hypocrisy and apathy is to pick Americans' pockets.
Harald Hardrada
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA (Apr 21, '08)
I wish to comment on the article
Petraeus hid Maliki's resistance to US troops [Apr 19] by Gareth
Porter. President [George W] Bush, his generals and real Iraqis tell two
different stories about the war in Iraq. Most Iraqis say that the US's illegal
invasion and occupation have fueled violence. [The] White House's parrot-like
repetitive story is that US forces are curbing sectarian violence and making
things better and friendly for the Iraqis. This misleading narration and
perception is severely hindering progress and understanding of the ordinary
Iraqi point of view. [The] majority of Iraqis are of the opinion that the US
presence in Iraq is fueling sectarian violence and has been a recruiting ground
for al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters who want to defeat the Americans and
liberate their land for them. It is the indignity and humiliation of illegal
occupation that the Iraqis want to end and they want the US to announce a
timetable for its troops' withdrawal and departure. I believe that the violence
will only decrease when the US leaves. The fact of the matter is that the US
will continue to stay in Iraq to justify building permanent military bases and
to ensure access to Iraqi oil for US oil moguls and business for arms
manufacturers and security firms. The US wants a "soft partition" of Iraq that
would allow greater influence by US and corporate interests. This month, a new
ABC/BBC poll showed that over 70% of Iraqis want the US to leave Iraq. Most
believe the US troop "surge" has increased rather than decreased violence in
Iraq. General [David] Petraeus cautioned more than a year ago that in Iraq
"there is no military solution, the solution is economic and political". The US
economy is in rapid decline and facing recession, and with oil prices
increasing daily and in short supply, the US wells will not only remain in
control of Iraqi oil but Bush will attack Iran to seize its oil fields.
Saqib Khan
UK (Apr 21, '08)
I find it very interesting and a bit disappointing that Asia Times Online, a
website on which I rely more and more for unbiased views of the world, has not
reviewed any books exposing the numerous lies, distortions and manipulations
associated with the alleged 9/11 "attacks". Like most people, I was initially
shocked by the brutality and suddenness of that tragedy. But soon I started
asking myself questions about the emerging "party line" on the whos and whys.
The closer I looked and listened, the murkier and more suspicious things
became. Being a structural engineer, the reasons given for the collapsed towers
did not ring true. Then I discovered others were skeptical also, including
journalists (many of them non-American), who started doing some investigations
outside controlled government sources. Then I read important books, several of
them by respected academics, and the floodgates opened. Now I have no doubt
that the official US government position is a complete fabrication and utterly
devoid of truth about who and why these "attacks" took place. That does not
mean I know who ... perpetrated the crime, only that what we have been told is
a lie, now elevated to the status of indisputable American myth. That is why no
one in the US media dares disturb this scared cow, because to do so is to put
your career, if not life, at risk. Which brings me back to Asia Times Online. I
respect your position as an independent voice in a Western imperialist world,
so this naturally makes me curious why your site is so reticent to review these
books. The label of "conspiracy theory" is used in this country to instantly
dismiss as lunacy brave efforts to discern the truth, even though many such
labeled theories, denounced at the time, have proven correct with the passage
of time. I have no doubt that one day the true criminals will be exposed, but
only after even more blood and treasure are expended. I urge Asia Times Online
to provide its readers around the world the opportunity to see the 9/11 lie
shorn of its rather thin veneer of credibility and learn just how sinister
America's wars really are.
Hardy Campbell (Apr 21, '08)
Over the years, ATol has published reviews and articles touching on the various
conspiracy theories. And for a different take on the attacks, see
September 11 was a third-rate operation Asia Times Online, March 28,
2008.
[Re Asia pushes, West
resists, Apr 19] I was deeply concerned by the use of the words in
Sreeram Chaulia's sentence "Had [author Kishore Mahbubani] picked Bangladesh,
where religious fundamentalism is at an all-time-high". This is completely
wrong. India instead should be the candidate for the Gujarat riots where close
to 10, 000 (mostly women and children) were burned to death because they were
Muslims. Such things do not happen in Muslim countries. The so-called problem
of religious extremism of Bangladesh that this author wishes to pitch is simply
because most likely he/she is [an] Indian who has a vested interested in
labeling all other countries as belonging to the dark ages, except for India.
There are many problems with India which never reach the media because it is
not considered a Western ally. I don't see India cooperating with rest of Asia
- I see it in complete isolation from Asia and working in complete cooperation
with an awful American government.
Shotta (Apr 21, '08)
The article Asia pushes,
West resists [Apr 19] by Sreeram Chaulia reminds me that time has
rhymed again. When the West went through the Renaissance, which led to the age
of Enlightenment and finally to the Industrial Age, many Asian countries
resisted Western incursions into their cultures. This could be said about
India, China and even Japan. But history has proved that the West, using either
coercion, diplomacy or warfare, was able to enter into trade and finally create
the world's largest Christian empire ruled by the British. This East/West
relationship spawned both positive and negative results. Asia absorbed from the
West its government systems, economic systems, its innovations and artistic
heritage, but Asia had to pay a heavy price for these Western instruments to
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