tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post1545307176270339472..comments2024-03-21T06:54:52.136-04:00Comments on Wisdom of the West: The Snowden-Manning Axis: A Political, Foreign Policy ArgumentJim H.http://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-28784551817316785992013-08-30T18:54:29.342-04:002013-08-30T18:54:29.342-04:00Are you arguing that we should do nothing?
Yes. ...<i>Are you arguing that we should do nothing?</i><br /><br />Yes. We should stop being the world's most corrupt corporate policeman.<br /><br /><i>This is a different situation, and, at least as far as I can tell, the evidence seems genuine. </i><br /><br />How can we believe <b>anything</b> our government tells us?<br /><br />They told us that overthrowing Gaddafi was for humanitarian ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-55213576788637731062013-08-30T16:02:42.609-04:002013-08-30T16:02:42.609-04:00Thunder: For me, the question was whether to strik...Thunder: For me, the question was whether to strike against purely military targets, specifically those who authorized, ordered, and executed this mass chemical weapons attack killing 1500 people, including 450 children.<br /><br />Clearly the overthrow of Mossadeq (sp) is a great cause of instability in the region. As is the founding of Israel and the exile and subjugation of the Palestinians. Jim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-62042453560484838212013-08-30T14:59:07.597-04:002013-08-30T14:59:07.597-04:00Are you & Thunder arguing that the U.S. was so...<i>Are you & Thunder arguing that the U.S. was somehow complicit in this action as well simply because of something done by the Reagan administration in the '80s.</i><br /><br />Jim H., it goes back even further. For instance, see 1953, when we and the Brits overthrew Iran's democracy so that "our" multinational oil companies could make more money.<br /><br />Our hands haveifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-35980216624231409512013-08-30T13:03:49.136-04:002013-08-30T13:03:49.136-04:00I just saw on the news that the Syrian General in ...I just saw on the news that the Syrian General in charge of chemical weapons was killed. Coincidence? The report didn't say whether he was killed by rebels or drones or even his own men.<br /><br />I don't believe a drone strike is necessarily a mass murder. It has a camera and a targeted missile of some sort. (Recall the Manning video—the one thing that has been obscured by the all the Jim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-64092238786819692752013-08-29T13:36:22.703-04:002013-08-29T13:36:22.703-04:00you write
The use of drones against specific perp...you write<br /><br /><i>The use of drones against specific perpetrators of this crime, especially if it is based on real, hard evidence and international consensus, could send a major signal to Assad: this is an internal Syrian conflict, we're not going to intervene, but the world community will not stand for these sorts of infractions and will step in to referee when called for.</i><br /><brmistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-61625986467252186672013-08-29T11:58:12.931-04:002013-08-29T11:58:12.931-04:00Yeah, mr. c, Thunder mentioned the CIA's logis...Yeah, mr. c, Thunder mentioned the CIA's logistical support for Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war of the '80s. I rented a house in the '80s (Gipper time!) from a guy involved in intelligence cooperation with Iraq. It's use of chemical weapons was a crime. It was one of the crimes Cheney/Rumsfeld cited as a reason for invading—failing to clarify for the U.S. popular consumption that that Jim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-46529466388899215422013-08-28T22:50:10.692-04:002013-08-28T22:50:10.692-04:00re your statement no reaction/response in a situa...re your statement <i> no reaction/response in a situation like the use of chemical nerve agents is tantamount to acceptance and even sanction—not just by the U.S. but by the world community.</i><br /><br /><br />the follow text through [end quote] is from <br /><br /><br />http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/26/cia-documents-show-u-s-helped-iraq-fight-iran-despite-chemical-weapons-use/<br /><br /mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-11684138880072599382013-08-28T17:35:42.897-04:002013-08-28T17:35:42.897-04:00it seems to me spinney's piece addresses your ...it seems to me spinney's piece addresses your premise 2 - the manning axion<br /><br />with regard to your premise 1 - the snowden axiom - i don't think electronic monitoring is as all-seeing as this supposes - to the extent the kgb (now fsb, right?) puts its most important analyses into typewritten documents, for example, there's a degree of opacity there <br /> that no degree of mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-41578723799349662132013-08-28T17:21:58.603-04:002013-08-28T17:21:58.603-04:00Thanks, dr. charley. That's an interesting ana...Thanks, dr. charley. That's an interesting analogy re treating sovereign states like bad kids. Spanking (use of violence) isn't really that persuasive nor is it particularly efficacious.<br /><br />Not sure what Spinney is advocating though. Is he calling for all out war—yet another land war in Asia—or nothing at all? There's a big difference.<br /><br />My own propensity is for Jim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-48621091177798407602013-08-28T13:45:00.398-04:002013-08-28T13:45:00.398-04:00Should Obama or should he not drone strike the Syr...<i> Should Obama or should he not drone strike the Syrian chemical weapons chain-of-command culprits?</i><br /><br />Franklin C. Spinney considers this question, with historical context, in<br /><br /><br />http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/27/syria-in-the-crosshair/<br /><br />To put it briefly, Spinney would answer your question in the negative - he regards the impending use of violence as<brmistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-1691543634031665332013-08-27T10:34:39.025-04:002013-08-27T10:34:39.025-04:00Thunder: Thanks for your considered response, but ...Thunder: Thanks for your considered response, but I'm not sure what your point is. Should Obama or should he not drone strike the Syrian chemical weapons chain-of-command culprits? And can he really do it? And if he can and does, is that an appropriate response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical WMD? Would such a measured response potentially keep us out of yet another Asian land war?Jim H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02088100982761595050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4191084196584249823.post-25142134684103822742013-08-27T08:47:03.734-04:002013-08-27T08:47:03.734-04:00Are you using 'argument via eyeroll', Jim ...Are you using 'argument via eyeroll', Jim H.?<br /><br />Seems to me that this argument is easily countered by the facts.<br /><br />1) The Espionage Act of 1917 is a shitty law passed by President Wilson during World War I.<br /><br />2) It had been used a total of 3 times before Obama was sworn in.<br /><br />3) <a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/50459/ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.com