Obama Above the Law…

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Peace Intelligence
George Will

WAR POWERS ACT

Is Obama above the law

By GEORGE F. WILL

Miami Herald, 05.30.11

The U.S. intervention in Libya’s civil war, intervention that began with a surplus of confusion about capabilities and a shortage of candor about objectives, is now taking a toll on the rule of law. In a bipartisan cascade of hypocrisies, a liberal president, with the collaborative silence of most congressional conservatives, is traducing the War Powers Resolution.

Read full article….

Dennis Kucinich: Impeach Obama for Libya?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 10 Security, 11 Society, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Multinational, IO Sense-Making, Military, Peace Intelligence
Dennis Kucinich

Congress Returns to Town With Demand Obama Get OK on Libya

Fox News,  May 22, 2011

President Obama could be impeached for violating U.S. Constitution and law by going into Libya without congressional consent, but Rep. Dennis Kucinich says he doesn't want to cause that kind of havoc on the Republic, he just wants the United States to get out of Libya's civil war. While many lawmakers in general support the U.S. role in Libya, even if they want the final say on approving military action, Kucinich, D-Ohio, will introduce a joint resolution when Congress returns this week that he says “hopefully will lead us out of this mess that we've waded into in Libya.”

. . . . . . .

Kucinich said the U.S. has no business intervening in Libya because it's a civil war. He added that the rebel forces the U.S. and NATO appear to be backing are demonstrating some disturbing behaviors, including “committing some of the same practices that they accused Colonel Qaddafi of.” Beyond that, he added, the whole operation stinks of a bid for the oil fields of Benghazi, where the rebels have set up their stronghold.

Read full article….

See Also:

Looting Libya: Insider View of Reasons for War….

Libya, Water, and War + RECAP

Why the U.S. Should ‘Give’ Af-Pak to China

02 China, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Proliferation, 08 Wild Cards, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government, IO Multinational, IO Sense-Making, Military, Peace Intelligence, Strategy
Richard Wright

Worth a look — even if only the first paragraph.

The New Rules: Why the U.S. Should ‘Give' Af-Pak to China

Thomas P.M. Barnett | Bio | 30 May 2011
Column

Nuclear Pakistan, we are often told, is the Islamic-state equivalent of a Wall Street firm: In geostrategic terms, it is too big to fail. That explains why, even as the Obama administration begins preparing for modest troop withdrawals from Afghanistan this July, it dispatched Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Islamabad last week to smooth over bilateral relations with Pakistan's paranoid regime, which were strained even before the killing of Osama bin Laden. But Clinton's trip and the Obama administration's instinctive embrace of Islamabad is a fool's errand, doomed by history, geography and globalization itself.

In fact, the U.S. should drop the entire Afghanistan-Pakistan mess in China's lap now, while the getting is good, and here are the reasons why: …

Phi Beta Iota: World Politics Review has not figured out the new world of information quite yet, and we have no desire to copy their entire article.  Suffice to say that Barnett, who has gotten much more coherent since his first book, is on target here, but add to that that the US Government's foreign policy is both ideological and idiotic —  apart from the huge error by Zbigniew Brzezinski giving Pakistan the nuclear bomb in  the first place, the US has no business in Central Asia that is of benefit to the American people, only to the American carpet-baggers that feed at the public treasury (now much depleted and greatly in debt) while looting foreign countries.

Inside Iran — Young, Impoverished, & Restless

05 Iran, Advanced Cyber/IO, Autonomous Internet, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Impotency, Peace Intelligence
Click on Image to Enlarge

From a senior engineer of Iranian descent often in Iran:

The view from within Iran is that, “help us get rid of this regime”, people are even willing to welcome an all out air assault if it ends up with an eventual regime change , move to secularize, and early stages of democracy.

I do not see an attack on Iran in the coming year. However if there is ever a good time to attack the regime with air strikes this is it. The  removal of the  subsidies by the government  every day common goods which accrued about 3 months ago which has now resulted in a major price increase on common good is just hitting the average poke book.

The utilities have gone up over %50 and in some cases more than doubled.

The number of factories closing down and the businesses going out of business which results in major layoffs is on the rise. The oil exports are decreasing and more oil wells are being shut down due to technical problems.

The majority of people have lost hope of meaningful reform.

Continue reading “Inside Iran — Young, Impoverished, & Restless”

Iran Played “Pivotal Role” in 9/11? Craven Idiocy

05 Iran, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, 11 Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, IO Impotency, Peace Intelligence, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests
Thomas E. Mellon, Jr.

First, the lawyer. Thomas E. Mellon Jr. from Doylestown, PA.  He is representing 17 families from Bucks Couny in a Class Action Suit against Iran, al-Qaida and other supporters of Sept. 11 attack.  He is an intimate of the US Department of Justice that is on record as claiming that it has the right to lie to the judiciary.  We smell a lie pie.

Second, the plaintiff. Fiona Havlish.  She was also the lead in the 2002 filing against Bin Laden et al, but in that case the current lawyer was second on a long list of firms that participated.  She was a prime force behind a class action lawsuit seeking $100 billion in compensation.  Her husband died in the South Tower, not in Pennsylvania.  The timing of this, post Bin Laden Show, is suspect.

Third, the defectors. Three of them  A proper investigation will surely find that they have been in close consultation with the Iranian Liberation nut-jobs that are being encouraged by State, DoD, and CIA to play with public perceptions.   There is no way these three can withstand scrutiny, and we hope that Iran chooses to confront these almost certain lies in some public manner.  Remember Chalabi & CURVEBALL?

Continue reading “Iran Played “Pivotal Role” in 9/11? Craven Idiocy”

NATO — and Pilot/Command — War Crimes in Libya

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, Civil Society, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Law Enforcement, Military, Misinformation & Propaganda, Officers Call, Peace Intelligence, Power Behind-the-Scenes/Special Interests
Cynthia McKinney

From Cynthia McKinney

Anatomy of a Murder:  How NATO Killed Qaddafi Family Members

28 May 2011

How many times must a parent bury a child?

Well, in the case of Muammar Qaddafi it's not only twice: once for his daughter, murdered by the United States bombing on his home in 1986, and again on 30 April 2011 when his youngest son, Saif al Arab, but yet again for three young children, grandbabies of Muammar Qaddafi killed along with Saif at the family home.

Now, I watched Cindy Sheehan as she bared her soul before us in her grief; I cried when Cindy cried.  Now, how must Qaddafi and his wife feel?  And the people of Libya, parents of all the nation's children gone too soon.  I don't even want to imagine.

All my mother could say in astonishment was, “They killed the babies, they killed his grandbabies.”

The news reports, however, didn't last more than one half of a news cycle because on 1 May, at a hastily assembled press conference, President Obama announced the murder of Osama bin Laden.

Well, I haven't forgotten my empathy for Cindy Sheehan; I haven't forgotten my concern for the children of Iraq that Madeleine Albright said were OK to kill by U.S. sanctions if U.S. geopolitical goals were achieved.  I care about the children of Palestine who throw stones at Israeli soldiers and get laser-guided bullets to their brains in return.  I care about the people of North Africa and West Asia who are ready to risk their lives for freedom.  In fact, I care about all of the children–from Appalachia to the Cancer Alley, from New York City to San Diego, and everywhere in-between.

On 22 May 2011, I had the opportunity to visit the residence of the Qaddafi family, bombed to smithereens by NATO. For a leader, the house seemed small in comparison, say, to the former Clinton family home in Chappaqua or the Obama family home.  It was a small whitewashed suburban type house in a typical residential area in metropolitan Tripoli.  It was surrounded by dozens of other family homes.

I spoke with a neighbor who described how three separate smart bombs hit the home and exploded, another one not exploding.  According to the BBC, the NATO military operations chief stated that a “command and control center” had been hit. That is a lie.  As anyone who visits the home can see, this home had nothing to do with NATO's war.  The strike against this home had everything to do with NATO adopting a policy of targeted assassination and extra-judicial killing–clearly illegal.

Continue reading “NATO — and Pilot/Command — War Crimes in Libya”

Snapshot: African Union

08 Wild Cards, Cultural Intelligence, Government, IO Multinational, Military, Peace Intelligence
The African Union says only a political solution in Libya can lead to a lasting peace (AFP/File, Warren Allott)

AU demands end to NATO Libya strikes

India calls for immediate cessation of hostilities in Libya

NATO launches fourth night of Libyan strikes

Phi Beta Iota: We consider the attacks on Tripoli to be outrageously illegal and immoral by every standard.  There is every reason for the non-NATO world to bring war crime charges against every participating NATO nation.

The African Union High Level Ad Hoc Committee on Libya Convened Its 5th Meeting in Addis Ababa

Model African Union Summit deliberates on youth empowerment

Peacekeepers from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) park their tanks near the main Bakara market during fighting between Somalia government soldiers and Islamist insurgents in the capital Mogadishu, on May 23. Feisal Omar/Reuters

African Union lays siege to Al Shabab-controlled market in Somalia's capital

African Union delegation arrives in Somalia

Government, African Union Consult on Abyei Security[Sudan]

African Union to Bolster Ties with India

Africa: Restore Peace in War-Torn States, AU Told

Phi Beta Iota: As with all regional organizations including security organizations such as NATO, the AU lacks a multinational, multiagency, multidisciplinary, multidomain information-sharing and sense-making (M4IS2) capability.  Until they have one, they will remain at the mercy of predatory states and corporations.