A Worshipper At The Shrine
Lest anyone think I've lost my sass, I want to mention yet another incident with a worshiper at the Obama shrine. Had dinner last night with a good friend; we didn't talk politics a lot, but lit on it casually. I know my friend--I’ll call her ”Jane”--is a very bright, articulate, widely read woman who considers herself liberal. She is anti-war in what seems to be the current liberal style: with a sense of a vague, unfocused, mild dismay at preemptive strikes and the rest of our country's death-dealing ways, but sans any real passion or conviction. However, she recognizes O.'s leadership role in the continuing carnage we inflict on other humans, right?
Why, no, not at all. Jane believes he inherited the situation from the evil Bush Monster and O. will "do something about it" as soon as he can. Why can't he now? Because his advisers won't let him! That's right, the most powerful man on the face of the earth is struggling to free himself from the masterminds who control him (and got him elected and continue to be the people closest to him), so he can call off the dogs of war and dry the tears of the women and children we have a habit of killing.
I guess Jane didn’t see this, from "Common Dreams"[link]:
"The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been granted approval by the US government to expand drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal regions in a move to step up military operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, officials have said."
Why, the sneaks! They got that one right past the president (doesn’t he have a Nobel prize to prove he’s a peace-loving pussy cat?). Oddly, though, this appears in the same article: "Barack Obama, the US president, had previously said drone strikes were necessary to 'take out high-level terrorist targets.'"
And, I guess, so were the thousands of additional warm military bodies he’s dispatched to Afghanistan in order to subdue and, if necessary, slaughter the millions of Afghans who live there. But this is all, you understand, because he hasn’t yet devised a strategy for ending the war! For bringing the troops home! For comforting the women and children and binding up the wounds…
Oh, the hell with it.
Labels: Dinner With Jane
posted by Mimi @ 5:07 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
The Obama moves in mysterious ways.
It’s nice to see you posting again Mimi, and your frustration is understandable.
"why the sneaks! They got one past the president...
I hate it when that happens.
I'm not disturbed nearly as much by my right-leaning friends as I am at those like Jane. That's why I've said from the beginning that O.'s election would be more dangerous to the "peace movement" (what peace movement?) than McPalin's would have been. He's pulled the teeth of the activists and turned them into fawning lapdogs. (How's that for a mixed metaphore?)
I think that’s exactly right Mimi. Obama is the perfect president to help usher in our police state using his ability to be all things to all people. The go ahead for the expansion of drone attacks against Waziristan is tantamount to a declaration of war and the timing is certainly interesting coming on the heels of Shahzad. So the war expands and with it the police state. The U.S. is pushing for an invasion of Waziristan…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LE08Df01.html
In an attempt to speed up operations in North Waziristan, the US on Wednesday expedited a payment of US$468 million for Pakistan from the Coalition Support Fund, which has been set up in recognition of Pakistan's contribution in the "war on terror". Pakistan has been paid approximately $7.2 billion since 2001.
However, Islamabad went into overdrive to deflect attention from North Waziristan. The ambassador to the US, Professor Husain Haqqani, called Shahzad a disturbed man. He said it was premature to speculate on whether he had trained with any radical groups in Pakistan and that an investigation into his links to the country was ongoing.
The military chipped in too. Spokesman Major General Athar Abbas denied that any group was linked to the bombing and he refused to accept that Shahzad had ever visited North Waziristan. He also said an unspecified number of people had been questioned, but no one had been arrested or detained in Pakistan - contrary to media reports of several arrests. On Thursday, Shahzad's father, retired Air Vice-Marshal Baharul Haq, was taken into protective custody.
The plain fact cannot be missed: North Waziristan is the nerve center of the Afghan resistance and as long as Pakistan delays, the US will take matters into its own hands.
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