Why are we still in Afghanistan? Iraq?

[Taverner]

I voted to end these wars

My guy won, my guys won and we're still in the meat grinder we all call the Mideast.

If this is the America we are going to be, then FUCK AMERICA.

Yeah, you heard me right.

America is a bully

It always has been, and it appears that we always will be

So Fuck bullies - I hope the US goes the way of the USSR....

That is all...


grrrrr.....

Oh, and don't even get me started on the torture photos.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. It's a CYA effort to avoid acknowledging 2 lost colonial wars. aka - PR

Complete with a replay of the "Falling Dominoes" BS of that other lost war.

[Taverner]

3. Noam Chomsky was right - the US is a rogue state

It needs to be taken down

[montanacowboy]

2. Yep, I sure love the new "transparency"

You are right

We voted with high hopes for change and what did we get?

Escalating Wars
Gitmo Still Open
Baghram Still Open
Obama not standing up to the Pentagon assholes and not releasing the photos (cowardice and political expediency)
Not supporting the cramdown bill to help homeowners
Not signing an EO to end DADT
Not supporting EFCA with any amount of muscle
Brining on Arlen Specter (R - Disgusting)
Polar Bears and Wolves - another fuck you

Hey Obama - WE Fuckin WON - what are you afraid of?

please remind me why I voted for change

[Echo In Light]

5. He "won" because the real owners of the country wanted a friendlier face for now, that's it

Let's not forget the 00 and 04 "elections," and who REALLY control this country.

[billyoc]

4. For the money.

[robdogbucky]

6. In part because

of oil interests:

Barack Obama (D)
Has received $621,888 in oil contributions during the 2008 election campaign. $0 of those dollars were from industry PACS.

http://prezoilmoney.oilchangeusa.org/index.php?can=P80003338&v=tables&congress_num=110


Okay, so he wasn't the only one, but he was #3 behind only McCain and Ghouliani. So that makes him the #1 Dem recipient of oil bucks.

Also in part because of the "strategic interests," which is always toted out to justify any action in the far away middle east (read Israel). Any idea of the AIPAC contributions to the presidential candidates? Probably available on opensecrets.org, no? I have to check that out anyway.

Also in part for the rest of the MIC, ie Halliburton, GE, all other defense contractors, Blackwater type "contractors," etc.

Can't forget the fundie denominations that are funding and supporting and encouraging and carrying out "god's work," by trying to proseltyze their unique brand of "Christianity." A rosary on the barrel of a tank so to speak.

Because something had to fill the vaccuum after the end of the cold war vs the communist bloc for a system that survives on creating demonic strawman to carry out its missions of disaster capitalism through shock (and awe) doctrines. The demonization of all Muslims since the 1970s (don't bother trying to explain that only 20% of all Muslims are Arabs)as the new enemy out to get America. See communist bloc nations for reference. All pretty much to assure that a process of western imperialism stays on course for the next century or so.

Bringing democracy to people that don't want our brand of it, one corpse at a time.


Just my dos centavos

robdogbucky

[Mari333]

7. Oil companies, contracts, and a pipeline

http://www.alternet.org/audits/139983/pipeline-istan%3A_everything_you_need_to_know_about_oil%2C_gas%2C_russia%2C_china%2C_iran%2C_afghanistan_and_obama/

[leftstreet]

9. And don't forget the pretty flowers

[HughBeaumont]

8. Maintaining an empire means never having to say "we're broke"?

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :shrug:

[timtom]

10. OK! I'm so glad you asked.

I started on a tear this morning, while driving my wife to work. She's a clever lass, and she suggested, "What would happen to the economy if, suddenly, there were a bunch of out-of-work reservists back in the unemployment pool?" (Not her words exactly, but you get the picture)

So the consideration is, just how problematic would that be?

[NNN0LHI]

11. Recommended

Fucking A what are we still doing there? Are we nuts?

Don

[SIMPLYB1980]

12. So how do you take that FUCK AMERICA attitude,

and turn it into something productive?

[truth2power]

13. Caspian pipeline. eom

[nichomachus]

14. Here's the answer

I'll try to keep it short.

The US wants to be the one and only superpower in the world. It already dominates the seas, which is very important. This is why we have to have "possessions," where we can keep naval forces to prevent any other nation from challenging us on the water. So far, that's working. (It's also why we must keep Cuba under our thumb, since that would allow another power to get a base close to us.)

But it also requires that we keep other foreign powers from becoming large and strong enough to challenge us. China isn't the powerhouse most people think it is -- for a lot reasons. Europe isn't going to challenge anything right now. Africa -- fuggedabowtit. And Russia is on the ropes and had its own problems.

However, we would have problems if the Middle East somehow coalesced against us -- especially with large oil reserves. So, our foreign policy -- never stated in those terms -- is to keep the ME as destabilized as possible. This is why we want to keep the Israel/Palestine issue festering. And, it's why the destabilization caused by the Iraq invasion -- and our continued presence there for the foreseeable future -- is not a bad thing to those pushing the empire.

This is the only reason we're there -- to be a destabilizing influence. There are ancillary goals, like oil, Bush's dick-waving contest with his father, and the Armegeddonist idiots, but the real reason is just to keep the region from ever coming together over anything.

We don't want to spread peace and Jeffersonian democracy in the ME -- we want to keep everything in turmoil.

[Soylent Brice]

16. that's a pretty accurate assessment of why

everything has been the way it has for the last 30 years.

[Soylent Brice]

15. FUCK YEAH.

you're spot on today, Tav!