Tannishblog

The White House proposes a $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Can you believe this? The same nation that birthed Osama Bin Laden is offered high-tech weapons and upgrades to fighter jets by the nation that suffered from the same man’s obsessions: Freaking brilliant.

It’s just business as usual for the military-industrial Corporatocracy. "Who?" you ask. (Or maybe "What’s he getting on about?") You know, the people who have the money to influence elections, buy presidencies and profit on war and bloodshed; the people who really run this country. I cannot imagine that the founders of this country - in their worst nightmares - would have imagined the nation they strived so hard to create fall into the role of an unscrupulous gun seller. Kind of give new meaning to "Wild West."

Can our government get more out of touch with the will of it’s people? Can it get more arrogant? More defiant?

Yes. Things can always worsen. But I believe the bottom has been reached. The political pendulum is swinging away from rampant capitalism, pre-emptive aggression, and wanton destruction. We are moving away from the narrow, selfish greed of a well-placed few and steering the the nation back toward a sense of stewardship of it’s people and their needs.

Congress must stop this deal. But even the Democrats in congress will accept this hypocrisy if the American people don’t make a lot of noise against this move. Our unwillingness to cry foul in the face of political idiocy has gotten us into the mess we’re in. Will we, in our silence enable our nation to continue to be the butcher of the world through it’s insistence of selling war material to anyone who will pay?

What kind of future will that bring? There is only one logical end to such maneuvering: traffic in the tools of blood, and blood is the product. Only by a concerted effort of millions of Americans will this cease. Let’s make a new America: one that doesn’t profit from destruction.

Don’t expect congress to do this for us.

With approval polls historically low, accountability hearings gaining momentum, outrageous deeds being questioned for a change, the Bush administration is squirming. Even Dick Cheney is on the defensive, and he doesn’t give a damn about anything.

But what’s an embattled White House to to? Trot out the fearmongers. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff lays it on the line during an interview:

We could easily be attacked. The intent to attack us remains as strong as it was on September 10, 2001…

I believe we’re entering a period this summer of increased risk. We’ve seen a lot more public statements from Al Qaeda. There are a lot of reasons to speculate about that but one reason that occurs to me is that they’re feeling more comfortable and raising expectations. In the last August, and in prior summers, we’ve had attacks against the West, which suggests that summer seems to be appealing to them. I think we do see increased activity in South Asia, so we do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities. We’ve struck at them and degraded them, but they rebuild. All these things have given me kind of a gut feeling that we are in a period of increased vulnerability.

Yep. That should distract the American public from thinking - make them scared and their tiny little brains will cease functioning. It happened before, it’ll happen again. Ramp up the fear factor, multiply by ten, so the criminals in the White House can skate through the next few months, grab their overflowing portfolios full of defense firm stocks, and get the hell outta here.

Whip up the terror, whip it good.

Happy Monday to you! If you are indeed having a happy Monday, let me spoil it by highlighting some interesting stories from the weekend:

Nancy Pelosi is challenged by Cindy Sheehan, of all people, to deliver articles of impeachment in two weeks. So far, reactions are less than encouraging.

The White House refuses to cooperate with congressional investigations, are are blocking testimony of a White House aide. Still, Bush whines about our Do-Nothing-Congress, as if concerning itself with a six-year backlog of oversight is laziness.

While momentum grows for the impeachment of Dick Cheney, the Republican base jumps ship.

While the world obsesses over the price of oil, the real crisis of the twenty-first century is sneaking up on us: a water shortage. Or perhaps the collapse of the US Dollar.

British news preps their audience for 15 years of war, while Americans are warned of the dangers of premature withdrawal.

Halliburton’s stock is recovering nicely from last October’s fall; Blackwater still hasn’t announced it’s IPO, but other choices abound for the savvy investor.

That should curb your enthusiasm.

As for me, I’m holding my breath waiting for this fragile house of cards we call civilization to collapse. Shouldn’t be too long, now. Cue Elvis Costello: "Waiting for the end of the world…"

Finally, after weeks of testimonies, accusations, hearings and subpoenas, attempts at oversight and retroactive accountability, conservative bloggers have something to crow about. Two cars were found yesterday in London that were crudely rigged for detonation. This is great news for the embattled right. Now, they can get busy bolstering flagging support for a fail mission, stoking the fires of fear and strutting their ideology again. They can echo their Commander in Chief’s word about this age being the battleground for the fate of civilization itself.

Notwithstanding the fact that the two car bombs were identified and defused, were, in fact, crude and bungled attempts, supporters of Neo-Con Artistry now have "proof" of how dangerous the world is and how necessary their pre-emptive aggression. Again can they drive forward a God-given agenda of pre-Armageddon policy so they can have a front seat at The Rapture. Ahh! Sweet vindication!

Using what Al Gore would call “the language and politics of fear” to try to “drive the public agenda without regard to the evidence, the facts or the public interest,” the British Government spins it this way:

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, "We’re currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism."

Meanwhile, the feeling on the street was quite different.

Some Londoners seemed unfazed by the news of the botched attacks. “It’s something you get used to, living in London,” said Andrew Fowler, a 39-year-old lawyer sipping coffee at an outdoor cafe near Piccadilly. “And given the stance our government made on the war in Iraq and elsewhere, I think we are just getting used to being a target.”

[…]

“It’s only when I got to work that I realized what was happening,” said Renee Anderson, 32, a New Zealander from her country’s nearby diplomatic mission. “I feel surprisingly all right about it. We all kind of thought, ‘Well, you could be hit by a bus anyway.’ ”

Yeah, the world is a dangerous place. Even more so since the accelerated advancement of American Economic Imperialism so nakedly perpetrated by the Bush Administration. But it’s not more dangerous than ever. London had it worse in the 1940’s, American had it worse in the 1860’s. Life goes on…

It boils down to personal choice: One can cower in fear or get on with life. As long as people advocate a "God and Country" mentality to the exclusion of responsible social politics, the world will continue to be hazardous. How to deal with that is up to you.

The US and Russia are sparring again. Tensions rise at Vladimir Putin comments on America’s recent refocus on ballistic weapons.

Putin said Russia’s testing of new intercontinental and cruise missiles earlier this week was "aimed at maintaining the balance of forces in the world." "Our partners are filling Eastern Europe with new weapons," he told reporters in Moscow in a joint news conference with Greek President Carolos Papoulias. "What are we supposed to do? We cannot just observe all this. In our opinion, it is nothing different from ‘diktat,’ nothing different from imperialism." Washington is currently discussing deployment of parts of the system with Poland and the Czech Republic.

He’s right. America’s current incarnation, as exemplified by our cowboy/ yahoo/ redneck administration, is an Imperialistic beast. Our rediscovered bombplex mentality is only another manifestation of "bring ‘em on!" At some point, the braggadocio must be challenged, the bluff called. Somebody is going to step up to put the bully down. The grand theatre of foreign relations can be reduced to playground politics.

The White house denies the claim of a new cold war. Dominatrix Rice shoots back:

Rice, for her part, took aim Thursday at Russia’s record on human rights and democracy under Putin.

Rice said the United States wants a strong Russia as a partner, but Russia needs to adhere to democratic norms, such as allowing an independent judiciary, a free press and free and fair elections.

"Democratic institutions and an open society are not a source of weakness," Rice said after accepting an award for promoting better relations between the United States and Germany. "Nor is freedom of speech and freedom of the press just a nuisance that the state can attack at will."

Wait! We’re criticizing their human rights record? After Gitmo, shouldn’t we just shut up about that? And did you notice her rhetoric was as empty as a Rovian promise? Nothing was said about ballistics…

But what would you expect them her say? A huge portion of Gross Domestic Product is entwined in the military-industrial sector. Shareholder view - and of their lobbyists - a new cold war would be great for business.And in modern America that’s all the justification needed.How many of those shareholders work in Washington today?

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea and Russia have all been recipients of America’s arrogant hubris. Whose next, China?

This must stop.

Why should the US troops have all the fun? Let’s bring civilian contractors into the fray.

Twice this week employees of Blackwater USA, a private "security firm" based in Moyock, NC holding over $100 million defense contracts, we involved in confrontations in Baghdad. From Washington Post:

A Blackwater guard shot and killed an Iraqi driver Thursday near the Interior Ministry, according to three U.S. officials and one Iraqi official who were briefed on the incident but spoke on condition of anonymity because of a pending investigation. On Wednesday, a Blackwater-protected convoy was ambushed in downtown Baghdad, triggering a furious battle in which the security contractors, U.S. and Iraqi troops and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters were firing in a congested area.

I remember when we weren’t afraid to call these "security contractors" by their real name: Mercenaries. But in these post-politically-correct times of argument framing, a spade is no longer a spade, it’s a "landscape facilitator" (or something.) So a Mercenary soldier is now a "security consultant." Pfeh!

Is this how "the Surge(tm)" is implemented? This carefully planned war that the White House insisted didn’t need as many troops as Central Command suggested, which has redefined the word quagmire, has lasted longer than a Hollywood marriage. Early on, it was assumed that only 5,000 troops would be stationed there by December 2006. Now we’ve got "civilian contractors" playing along.

Blackwater’s security consulting division holds at least $109 million worth of State Department contracts in Iraq, and its employees operate in a perilous environment that sometimes requires the use of deadly force. But last week’s incidents underscored how deeply these hired guns have been drawn into the war, their murky legal status and the grave consequences that can ensue when they take aggressive action.

But quagmires are supposed to be murky, right? I guess the Iraqis have showed us Yanks how to use lawlessness to great advantage. What legal status has a corporate mercenary? How can someone be held accountable for war crimes if that is his job description?

Mohammed Mahdi, 37, an employee at a veterinary drugstore, said the combined American forces unleashed a fury of gunfire near the Amanat, the municipal headquarters located in the heart of downtown Baghdad. Before taking cover in his store, Mahdi said, he saw two people killed and one wounded near the city’s legal registry.

A U.S. Embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Blackwater contractors "did their job," enabling the State Department employees to be extracted without injuries. The U.S. military said no American soldiers were killed or wounded during the attack.

Mahdi said that the battle lasted for nearly an hour and that when he emerged he saw four mini-buses, a taxi and an Opel sedan containing dead and wounded. He said that he saw "at least four or five" people "who were certainly dead" but that he did not know how the people were killed, who killed them or whether they were civilians or combatants.

It gets really opaque when we toss in corporate official-speak rhetoric:

[Matthew Degn, a senior American civilian adviser to the Interior Ministry’s intelligence directorate,] said he was concerned the incident "could undermine a lot of the cordial relationships that have been built up over the past four years. There’s a lot of angry people up here right now."

"Cordial relationship?" So says a "senior civilian advisor". Are we framing again?

Anne Tyrrell, a Blackwater spokeswoman, said the company did not discuss specific incidents. In a statement via e-mail, she wrote: "Blackwater investigates any reports of hostile action in Iraq. Per the terms of our US Government contracts, as a matter of routine, Blackwater is required to file after action reports on any such incidents."

That should take care of that. An "incident report" to the US government is just the thing to appease the families of the dead and wounded. Make no mistake about the realities on the ground in Iraq: war is big business and war profiteering is just another aspect of the American economy.

Doesn’t that make you feel proud?

Aren’t you sick of war yet? Name one conflict between human powers that had any positive long-term results. World War II? We haven’t learned anything from that battle. Some people think that the holocaust never happened, and we’re still playing with nukes. Nothing positive there.

America’s Great Warmonger Bush (GWB, get it?) has plans to "modernize" our "outdated" nuclear arsenal so it can be more "flexible" in the future. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), the semi-autonomous nuclear weapons agency within the Department of Energy (DOE), has plans for a "Complex 2030", essentially a nuclear weapons factory.

Now what in Sam Hill do we need that for? Let me Guess:

• The world is not dangerous enough yet
• America can cash in on the expanded weapons trade with friends like Pakistan
• There aren’t any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so we’ll send some there.
• With enough nukes, we just might get Osama by 2030
• The world will be a safer place with only white Christians left.
• Because America’s economy is too entwined with arms trade to extricate itself
• Because we’re all mad

Sick of the hyperbole, read some facts:

Alliance for Nuclear Accountability

Shundahai Network

Peace Action

Navada Desert Experience

Wes Clark

People don’t like this! Anyone out there REALLY think this is a good idea?

Reuters reports a BushCo deal to sell Iraq 400 million rounds of ammunition for a proposed cost of $500 million.

The Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the Iraqi government had asked for up to 100 million rounds of both M855 5.56mm and 7.62mm ammunition for small arms, as well as about 200 million other bullets.

"This proposed sale directly supports the Iraqi government and serves the interests of the Iraqi people and the U.S., as well as offering hope for a more stable and peaceful Middle East," said the agency that handles government-to-government arms sales.

The package would help Iraqi forces "sustain themselves in their efforts to bring stability to the country and prevent overflow of unrest into neighboring countries," a statement said.

Where did the money come from? Iraq’s economy is trashed, the people don’t even have water or electricity, how can the government extract taxes from am impoverished and besieged people? Maybe their buying the bullets with all the millions of wasted and missing money the bush administration lost last year. That would explain much.

And really -

The notice of a proposed sale is required by law. Congress has the power to reject it. The deal could be worth up to $508 million if all options are exercised.

As part of the proposed package, the United States would sell 170,000 40mm HEDP grenades, 80,000 C-4 1-1/4 pound plastic explosive packets and 4.2 million feet of detonating cord.

The deal would also involve up to 75 million gallons (341 million liters) of diesel, 2.9 million gallons (13 million liters) of JP-8 jet fuel and 56.4 million gallons (256 million liters) of motor gasoline, the statement said.

The administration, in a separate notice to lawmakers, proposed to sell to Turkey Raytheon Co.-built AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and related gear valued at up to $71 million if all options are exercised.

- is this the path to peace? I supposed of they’re all dead, rotting in the desert sand and feeding the vultures, it would get mighty peaceful for a while. Later, after a few sandstorms bury the corpses, Exxon-Mobil-Connoco-Phillips-Citgo can move in and - using US troops as industrial security - pump all the oil from the dead ground. In a millions years or two, all the dead Iraqis will become another layer of petroleum themselves. Let the circle be unbroken…

Ahh …the inverse verbosity of the Bush administration: failure equals progress, war equals peace, culture of life equals Department of Defense, Department of Justice equals political cronyism, clean air act equals relaxed pollution controls, patriot act equals erosion of freedom… Had enough yet?

This from ActForChange:

On May 1, 2003, in a highly staged photo-op, President Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. Four years later, the war is still raging — with no end in sight. The mission has not been accomplished.

In honor of all those who have been killed, whose lives have been destroyed in this terrible war of choice, Robert Greenwald has created a short film that will not let the president’s misguided declaration go unnoticed.

Watch: Mission Accomplished:

Three dollars a gallon - already!

The annual Gasoline Gouge season is upon us and, similar to the newly extended presidential primary season, it’s early. CNN reports average prices to be $2.87 a gallon. It’s always higher than average in Chicagoland. Here in the County of Cook - what with all the layers of taxation accrued - the cheapest gas is $2.89. Or is was yesterday. Last night the gasoline price gremlins went to work raising the bar by ten cents. The "Premium" grades are thirty cents more. (What makes them premium besides the premium price?)

I usually use the good stuff to keep my fifteen year-old engine as clean as possible. See: I’ve bought into (literally) the marketing flim-flam. As I squeeze the nozzle, I’m being squeezed for more money in return. Squeeze me some more, show me you love me.

CNN also mentions the eventuality of $4-per-gallon. Unprecedented profits derive from unprecedented prices.  If that ain’t magic, I don’t know what is…

One wonders what they’re going to do with all that money - start a war? Oh. Yeah…

Shouldn’t they be buying their own soldiers?