Month: September 2019

United Nations For The 21st Century

This week has been the annual meetings of the world leaders at the General Assembly….and as usual was full of drama and theatrics.

I admit it…I am not as gung-ho as I use to be about the United Nations (UN)……what started off as a great idea and the elimination of the necessity for war has become a joke among international analysts (me included).

I have tried to explain the reason why the UN seems ineffectual…..https://lobotero.com/2015/06/30/why-hate-the-united-nations-un/

I read a lot of papers trying to keep up to date since I left the international relations field…..and this one is a paper about the limitations and capabilities of the UN in conflict management……

A plethora of contemporary challenges have exposed the UN to criticism in its ability to evolve with changes in geopolitics, most notably the organization’s responsive rather than reactive approach to confronting international crises and the rise in nations disinterested in international consensus building. “The protection of civilians, the threat of violent extremism… and the dilemmas of state building” have presented obstacles that have forced both the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the UNSC to reevaluate their ability to comprehensively address today’s global challenges.[8] However, the primary obstacle threatening the capacity of the UN remains “how to deal with conflicts – be they between or within states – without offending the national sovereignty of its member states”.[9] Additionally, the UNSC remains controversial for its lack of global representation amongst the P-5 members with the ability to veto vital resolutions brought before the body. Given that the organization “remains largely unchanged since its founding in 1946”, debate regarding “its efficacy and authority as a mediator on matters of international security” is ongoing and increasingly prevalent in light of presently deteriorating modern conflicts.[10] With the determination of the P-5 having been structured in the aftermath of World War II, critics note that the current authority of the body disproportionately favors the positions of the permanent members, thus hindering the UNSC’s ability to distance itself from the sovereign interests of states when attempting to combat international security risks. Respective geopolitical aims of hegemons are evident in the present stalemate in the UNSC between Russia and the United States, with the veto power granted to permanent members constraining “the Council from engaging in the resolution of civil wars within their borders and in areas of perceived vital interest”.[11] Evidently, there is a disconnect between present threats to international security and the capacity for entities such as the UNSC to effectively mediate and mitigate conflict. The archaic structure of the UN and its entities makes it unable to address transitions in conflict that have complicated the need for resolution vis-à-vis mediation between nation states.

The Limitations and Capabilities of the United Nations in Modern Conflict

I think there is a place for the UN in the management and resolutions of conflict but to do so there would need to be a change…..for one get rid of the permanent members of the Security Council…those members have done NOTHING to make the world a safer place.

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Afghanistan–The Saga Continues

I have been writing about Afghanistan, the US longest war ever, sometimes I feel like I am wasting my time for most people seem to not give a crap what goes on in this country.

But I continue to watch and write…why? Americans are dying in this country and we should be all concerned with this simple fact.

So until it ends I will write and give my observations….looks like I shall be at an end before this damn war.

Recently the peace talks collapsed between the US and the Taleban and that brought a close to the chance of an end for our troops….our vets have let their feelings known about this war….

After 18 years of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, that waiting game continues, leaving some veterans questioning whether the conflict — and the personal risks they took for their countrymen — were worth it. President Donald Trump, who has complained about wasted “blood and treasure” in Afghanistan and has vowed to pull all U.S. troops, now seems less sure of a full withdrawal.

“Afghanistan is an unwinnable war, an empire killer,” says James, who is now running for a Democratic congressional seat in New York. “Ask Alexander the Great, ask the Russians. America is no different.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/09/21/afghanistan-war-veterans-want-peace-deal-question-conflict-failed-taliban-trump-talks/2357935001/

Women are always on the lips of anyone analyzing Afghanistan……as it is now they are second citizens and have little rights…..but what do these women really want?

The survey shows that life in Afghanistan in 2018 was, on many levels, worse than at any point in the past decade. Afghans felt less safe, struggled more to find work and afford the basics, and rated their lives worse than anyone else on the planet.

Underscoring their desperation in this environment, more Afghans than ever also said they would like to leave their country permanently if they could — and join the mass exodus that has taken place in the country since 2015, according to the survey.

In the midst of the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the United Nations began documenting casualties–and as millions of Afghans also grappled with food insecurity–a record-high 41% of Afghans said they would move to another country permanently if they could.

The big question as it is every year is…what is next for Afghanistan?

The answer may lie here…..https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2019/09/19/afghanistan__whats_next_114754.html

We have an election approaching….maybe more attention should be paid to our endless wars….just a thought.

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Closing Thought–26Sep19

Neo-Nazis and Osama—-are unlikely allies?

Since the little fascist hate anyone with brown skin it is interesting that they have found common ground with Osama…

As the threat of militant neo-Nazi groups expands and gains the attentions of federal authorities, their online propaganda tactics are taking a page out of an unlikely playbook: well-known jihadist groups.

Two neo-Nazi terror groups in particular, both revealed to be under investigation by the FBI in a recent indictment of an alleged bomber who was a member of both organizations, have recently demonstrated that they’re learning from online propaganda created by ISIS and al Qaeda.

In a late May post, European neo-Nazi group Feuerkrieg Division (FKD) published a propaganda image to its now-defunct Gab page. The image featured a stylized, yet unmistakable, screengrab from an infamous ISIS how-to video promoting homemade explosives with the caption, “It’s easier than you think.”

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bjwv4a/neo-nazis-are-glorifying-osama-bin-laden

Further Reading:

https://lobotero.com/2017/10/04/closing-thought-04oct17/

https://lobotero.com/2009/02/28/hate-groups-on-the-rise/

https://www.splcenter.org/news/2019/02/19/hate-groups-reach-record-high

The Facts on White Nationalism

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My Candidate Is Still Tulsi

The slate was set for the third debate and the DNC/DCCC got their desire….only the corporatist candidates with a couple of progressive to make it interesting and all others must just sit and watch the charade play out….and make no mistake it was a charade.

My candidate Tulsi Gabbard did not make the cut….I blame her active duty service kept her from making that bizarre cut. Yes. she still serves in the military (something most candidates have NOT done at all)…..there may be others that feel differently but like I said…it is what I believe.

Tulsi is antiwar that is all I need to know to support her. She is focusing her candidacy on US foreign policy the area that most 2020 candidates are overlooking to make points with the deep pocket donors.

I wrote recently about the 2020 Dems and their foreign policy stands…..most candidates but not all…..https://lobotero.com/2019/08/28/2020-dem-candidates-on-foreign-policy/

Tulsi is the lone voice for the lies and betrayal of the American people……..

congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard. She alone on the Democratic stage has made criticism of American militarism central to her candidacy. A veteran of the Iraq war and a highly decorated major in the Hawaii Army National Guard, Gabbard offers an intelligent and humane perspective on foreign affairs. She’s called the regime change philosophy “disastrous,” advocated for negotiation with hostile foreign powers, and backed a reduction in drone strikes. She pledges if she becomes president to end American involvement in Afghanistan.

When Chris Matthews asked Gabbard about Biden’s support for the Iraq war, she said, “It was the wrong vote. People like myself, who enlisted after 9/11 because of the terrorist attacks, were lied to. We were betrayed.”

Tulsi: A Living Reminder of Iraq’s Liars and Apologists

She is criticized heavily because of her visit with Assad in Syria…..a move that I defend…..Tulsi is still defending that move and her antiwar position while the media pulls NO punches to discredit her…even other Dem candidates take cheap shots….especially the supporters of Harris….their petty parthetic attacks are troubling to me……

A two-week hiatus in the midst of a presidential campaign? It seems risky — especially as the Democratic field winnows — but fourth-term Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard left for an Army National Guard training trip in Indonesia and has been off the grid for more than 10 days.

VICE News followed the congresswoman and Iraq War veteran while she campaigned in the key primary state of Iowa right before the trip.

“I’m grateful for that privilege of being able to serve in this way. Some people are saying, ‘Well, gosh, you know, your campaign is going to take a hit.’ You know, if that’s the case, so be it,” she said in Ames ahead of a meet-and-greet at a local coffee shop.

Service — in particular, her own military experience — shapes much of her worldview.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/d3avqw/tulsi-gabbard-is-extremely-anti-war-and-still-defending-her-visit-with-assad

Even though she may not be polling well she still has and will continue to have my support.

This illustrates just how much of a true candidate over most others…..

But I am thrilled that she made the cut for them 4th debate…..

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) became the 12th Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the party’s October primary debate on Tuesday after a new poll showed her with 2 percent support in New Hampshire.

To qualify for the October debate, candidates have to collect contributions from 130,000 unique donors and register at least 2 percent in four Democratic National Committee-approval polls. Gabbard met the donor benchmark weeks ago but has struggled to notch enough support in a fourth poll to put her over the polling threshold.

That changed on Tuesday after a Monmouth University poll showed the Hawaii congresswoman with 2 percent support among registered New Hampshire Democrats and unaffiliated voters who are likely to vote in the crucial first-in-the-nation primary on Feb. 11.

(thehill.com)

The DNC once again has upped the qualifications for the next debate…..the 5th debate…….

The Democratic National Committee is increasing the polling and fundraising requirements for presidential candidates to qualify for the primary campaign’s fifth debate in November, the AP reports. But in a nod to the potential for late-surging campaigns, the increases are not as steep as those from the first and second debates during the summer to the third and fourth debates after Labor Day. To make the November debate, candidates must have at least 165,000 unique donors, with at least 600 each in at least 20 states. That’s up from 130,000 donors—with 400 donors each in at least 20 states—for September and October. Candidates also must hit 3% in at least four national or early state polls—or hit 5% in two early state polls. The DNC has not yet announced the date or location of the November debate.

If you think our endless wars are in need of changing then Tulsi is the candidate you should be looking to for your vote.

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Ukraine–Show Of The Day

With this president there seems to be a new show of the day everyday…….he takes us to the limits of reality and back again…..yesterday the big newsw was this phone call with the new president of Ukraine, the Hearing to come and the march toward impeachment…..

I would like to help my reader about the day’s doings….but read early for it could all change quickly…..

The big news is this phone call between Trump and Ukraine…..

The White House on Wednesday released a five-page memo summarizing the July 25 call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The AP shies away from using the word “transcript,” and the Washington Post explains that what was released “is a memorandum of a telephone conversation and is not a verbatim account of the conversation” in keeping with White House practice; it pulls from the notes and recollections of those who were in the Situation Room. You can read the document in full here, which reflects what CNBC reports was a 30-minute call. It begins with Trump congratulating the newly elected Zelensky on his “great victory” and “terrific job.” Trump then goes on to bring up Rudy Giuliani, Attorney General Barr, and Joe Biden. Here’s his explicit mention of Biden:

  • “There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it. … It sounds horrible to me.”
  • Background here: After taking the lead for the US in the country during the Obama administration, Joe Biden in 2016 called for Ukraine’s general prosecutor to be booted in favor of someone more aggressive. Trump and Giuliani have claimed he was trying to stop an investigation into Burisma Group, which Hunter Biden was on the board of.
  • Zelensky replies to Trump by saying the new prosecutor he appoints “will look into the situation, specifically to the company that you mentioned in this issue.”
  • Trump then said, “I will have Mr. Giuliani give you a call and I am also going to have Attorney General Barr call and we will get to the bottom of it. I’m sure you will figure it out. I heard the prosecutor was treated very badly and he was a very fair prosecutor so good luck with everything. Your economy is going to get better and better I predict. You have a lot of assets. It’s a great country. I have many Ukrainian friends, their [sic] incredible people.”
  • CNN reports DOJ rep Kerri Kupec has stated that at no time following the call did Trump talk to Barr “about having Ukraine investigate anything relating to former Vice President Biden or his son.” She continued, “The President has not asked the Attorney General to contact Ukraine—on this or any other matter. The Attorney General has not communicated with Ukraine—on this or any other subject. Nor has the Attorney General discussed this matter, or anything relating to Ukraine, with Rudy Giuliani.”
  • The Wall Street Journal notes that early on in the call Trump emphasized how good the US has been to Ukraine, unlike European countries. “We spend a lot of effort and a lot of time,” he said.
  • But the Journal and Politico report the memo shows Trump made no reference, implied or explicit, to the US aid he had put on hold a week prior.
  • Hillary Clinton responded to the release with a tweet in favor of impeachment: “The president of the United States has betrayed our country. That’s not a political statement—it’s a harsh reality, and we must act. He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”
  • And from Trump himself on Twitter: “Will the Democrats apologize after seeing what was said on the call with the Ukrainian President? They should, a perfect call – got them by surprise!”

But do not take my word for this…..read the transcript for yourself….make up your own mind…..

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-full-transcript-trump-s-conversation-ukraine-s-president-n1058581

A little history of Ukraine and the many governments since the fall of the Soviet Union…..https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/trump-ukraine-kleptocracy/598747/

If you do not like this story line then just stand by for these days the lines change almost daily and sometimes even hourly…..

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More Middle East Chest Thumping

In speeches to the UN both Trump and the Saudis did what these two peacocks do…..macho BS….

Trump what Trump does…..blah….blah…blah…. Trump again blamed Tehran for the recent attack on Saudi Arabia. “All nations have a duty to act—no responsible government should subsidize Iran’s bloodlust,” he said, while pledging to ratchet up sanctions if Iran remained aggressive……blah….blah…blah….

Then the Saudis had to chest thump as well….as if to follow instruction….

While President Trump has said that the US is not interested in a war with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, took to a UN meeting to suggest that US military options are still being considered.

While it seems a bit presumptive for the Saudi FM to decide to speak to US policy, his comments that US patience is “not inexhaustible” seems to be directed both at threatening Iran, and at trying to get the rest of the world on board with the conflict.

Al-Jubeir says that the UN report on the attack will be available soon, and that there is a whole list of options, including military options, still being considered, with him wanting to mobilize international support for what is to come.

(antiwar.com)

“The US is not interested in a war”….does anyone truly believe that bullsh*t?

The Saudis talk tough but would they really do the heavy lifting for the US?

I do not think they would do anything but rather find a proxy so their hands are “clean”…..

here is a longstanding joke told in the Middle East about Saudi Arabia’s reluctance to fight its own wars. “Saudi Arabia will fight until the last Pakistani,” the punchline goes, in reference to the fact that Pakistani troops have long supported Saudi’s military endeavours.

The punchline has expanded lately to include the Sudanese, a recent addition to the Saudi army’s ground troops. Saudi Arabia is accustomed to buying labour that it deems too menial for its citizens, and it extends that philosophy to its army.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/sep/22/saudi-arabia-iran-us-middle-east-saudis

Proxy wars…kinda sounds like the old Cold War, huh?

How did the US get dragged into the middle of this mash up?

A great question and watch for the answer in a post to come.

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That Big Beautiful Wall!

Closing Thought–25Sep19

I have been watching the last visit to a wall by this president….and the visit to San Diego gave me some humor that most news does not have in it these days.

This video is a bit long but well worth the watch……

https://youtu.be/5ct2xmzqSHc
 
It was pathetic.  He was making a real estate pitch about immigration.
 
Well I guess it is a bit of a real estate deal for they will be stealing people’s land to build this damn abortion.
 
Anyway I got a good chuckle out of his words….actually to me he sounded like a fourth grader trying to convince his mother he did not crap in the bath tub.
 
In closing the words of our president about the phone call to the president of Ukraine…

“The conversation I had was largely congratulatory, was largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place,” Trump said before departing on a trip to Texas and Ohio. “Was largely the fact that we don’t want our people, like Vice President Biden and his son, creating to the corruption already in the Ukraine.”

“Ukraine’s got a lot of problems,” he added. “The new president is saying that he’s going to be able to rid the country of corruption and I said that would be a great thing. We had a great conversation. We had a conversation on many things.”

The president has acknowledged the phone call. On Monday, he said he didn’t want to give money to Ukraine — if there were corruption issues.

“It’s very important to talk about corruption,” Trump told reporters as he opened meetings at the United Nations. “If you don’t talk about corruption, why would you give money to a country that you think is, is corrupt?”

Later Monday, Trump denied telling the Ukraine president that his country would only get U.S. aid if it investigated Biden’s son. “I didn’t do it,” he said.

And apparently the “word of the day” was “corruption”.

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An “Impeaching” We Will Go

By now anyone that has a TV or a social media account knows thatn the Dems will set on a course for the impeachment of Trump….

So I shall not be redundant or reiterate what has been blowing up your social media…instead I will let my readers know what the Repubs have to say about the turn of events….

  • Trump’s 2020 campaign manager: He tweeted, “Democrats have officially paved the way for a @realDonaldTrump landslide victory. The witch-hunt continues…” alongside the official campaign statement on the matter: “Democrats can’t beat President Trump on his policies or his stellar record of accomplishment, so they’re trying to turn a Joe Biden scandal into a Trump problem. The misguided Democrat impeachment strategy is meant to appease their rabid, extreme, leftist base, but will only serve to embolden and energize President Trump’s supporters.”
  • The White House: Press secretary Stephanie Grisham issued a statement accusing House Democrats of destroying “any chances of legislative progress for the people of this country by continuing to focus all their energy on partisan political attacks. Their attacks on the President and his agenda are not only partisan and pathetic, they are in dereliction of their Constitutional duty.”
  • House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy: “Speaker Pelosi happens to be the speaker of this House but she does not speak for America when it comes to this issue,” he told reporters. “She cannot decide unilaterally what happens here. They have been investigating this President before he even got elected.”
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: “Washington Democrats have been searching for ways to reverse their 2016 election defeat since before President Trump was even inaugurated. The result has been a two-and-a-half-year impeachment parade in search of a rationale. When investigations by Special Counsel Mueller and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence deflated their breathless accusations of a campaign conspiracy with Russia, Democrats have simply shifted to new arguments for their predetermined conclusion,” he said in a statement. The inquiry “simply confirms that House Democrats’ priority is not making life better for the American people but their nearly three-year-old fixation on impeachment.”

There are the major sources of comments on this turn of events.

Let the investigation begin.

This will be the second president that will face impeachment because of something to do with his re-election.

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STOP! Racism Is The Problem!

I keep waiting for someone….anyone….to start an actual conversation on race.

So far all we have is lip service.

Some great points have been made but a truly hard look at racism has never been spoken.

We should be honest….the United States is broken and has been for a very long time.

The coming ethnic storm has some scrambling to keep things the way they are today……

Almost three decades ago when Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. penned The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society (1991), the threat of American white extremism was, if not quite unimagined, profoundly underestimated. Instead, Schlesinger lays the blame for what he calls the “decomposition of America” on the rise of “tribalism,” with Afrocentrism, “multiculturalists” and “ethnocentric separatist,” who in Schlesinger’s view see “the western tradition [as] inherently racist, sexist, ‘classist,’ hegemonic; irredeemably repressive, irredeemably oppressive,” presenting a clear and present danger. In some ways, the book presages Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations (1996), another in a long tradition of apocalyptic treatises on the rising tide of color, although this time penned by cold war liberals who offer a more palatable version lacking the overtly racist demagoguery of previous scribes. Like Huntington, Schlesinger envisions that the threat to western, specifically American values and institutions comes from an imagined Brown Peril of teeming dark-skinned others not from those who have historically rejected them – i.e., white racial narcissists. As Sam Tanenhaus wrote in his 2017 review of the book in The Atlantic, “though its critique of the ‘politics of identity’ and the ‘tribal antagonisms’ it bred should have included a harder look at his own privileged tribe, its delusions as well as its prejudices and presumptions.”

America’s White Problem Revisited

Can we explain the reason for these extreme right wing views?

Some have tried.

New research from Belgium provides evidence that deficits in emotion understanding and emotion management are related to right-wing and prejudiced attitudes. The study has been published in the journal Emotion.

“I have a lifelong interest in political psychology and in political ideology in particular. The observation that left-wing and right-wing adherents tend to differ on so many psychological characteristics is amazing,” said study author Alain Van Hiel, a professor at the University of Ghent.

“Many scholars have investigated the cognitive basis of ideology in general, and right-wing ideological attitudes in particular. In the present study, we wanted to investigate if a similar relationship would exist for emotional abilities.”

https://www.psypost.org/2019/09/people-with-lower-emotional-intelligence-are-more-likely-to-hold-right-wing-views-study-finds-54369

I do not understand……people who pretend that the Constitution is all important set about violate the tenets set forth by our Founders…..or they violate the teachings of something they hold on to for dear life….Christianity.

America has a serious white-supremacy problem, which is helping fuel a rise in hate crimes, violence, and domestic terrorism, and it’s time for Congress to do something to combat this growing threat to our nation.

https://www.businessinsider.com/congress-white-supremacist-terrorism-violence-trump-opinion-2019-9

Divisions destroy unity.

Ignorance is NOT strength……Ignorance is slavery!

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Trump Speaks At The UN

That is what Trump does….He Speaks…..

This time his his speech to the UN General Council…..these are his words of wisdom(?)…….

These are the major points of his rambling talk…..

President Trump addressed the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, touching on topics including Iran, the trade war with China, his disdain of globalism, and border security. Highlights from sources including the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and USA Today:

  • Nationalism: Trump said other nations must respect American sovereignty, and he said all nations should put their own citizens first. “The future does not belong to globalists,” he said. “The future belongs to patriots.” And in one of his takeaway lines: “If you want freedom, take pride in your country. If you want democracy, hold on to your sovereignty. If you want peace, love your nation.”
  • Iran: Trump again blamed Tehran for the recent attack on Saudi Arabia. “All nations have a duty to act—no responsible government should subsidize Iran’s bloodlust,” he said, while pledging to ratchet up sanctions if Iran remained aggressive.
  • Border controversy: “Today, I have a message for those open border activists who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of social justice: Your policies are not just, your policies are cruel and evil.” Trump accused them of “empowering criminal organizations that prey on innocent men, women and children,” and he said undermining border security is tantamount to “undermining human rights and human dignity.”
  • China: He accused Beijing of “gaming” world trade and the World Trade Organization of giving preferential treatment to China. He called on the world community to pressure Beijing into fairer trade policies. “For years these abuses were tolerated, ignored, or even encouraged,” he said. “Our goal is simple: we want balanced trade that is both fair and reciprocal.” Trump also called on China to “honor its binding treaty… to protect Hong Kong’s freedom, legal system and democratic ways of life.”

On Iran he thumped his chest……on the border he still hangs with all are criminals seeking tom join gangs and rob white Americans…..only thing on China that was interesting that he told China to respect democracy and yet turns blind eye elsewhere like the Occupied Territories….finally once again a call for more “nationalism” that sounds all too familiar.

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