What Makes Victory so Desirable?

The rhetoric of recent years about the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War has included the call for victory. But is that victory "at all costs"?...A term used at times when fighting battles to hold a position or to take an objective "at all costs". The term means no matter how many casualties, secure the objective; even if everyone dies.

Are we to consider the costs of our wars? Is there ever a time when the costs are too high to proceed? Can the costs be too high to continue after having initiated war? Do we have to finish all wars just because we engaged?

World War I started Aug. 2 1914 and in five months more than 800,000 Germans had become casualties. French and Austro-Hungarian casualties came to 1,000,000 each. Russian casualties amounted to 2,000,000. British 125,000. That's about 5 million casualties in 5 months. No one had achieved the advantage or "the victory" so desired. And what was some men's desire was the ultimate nightmare for millions of others. What they had achieved was stalemate and they spent the next 3 years in stalemate while these casualties dramatically increased. The winter offensive in early 1915 added 800,000 Austrian casualties and achieved nothing. Thousands froze to death when after exhaustion they would fall asleep to never awake. All for the call of victory. Those were the days when General's sons and King's sons were also offered up on the alter to achieve victory.

The leaders continued to believe that "victory lay just ahead and could be achieved with just one or two more effusions of sacrificial blood" as stated by G.J. Meyer in A WORLD UNDONE. There was no victory for the ones who died or for their families.

What price victory? Do our goals make any more sense than the goals for which literally millions died in WWI 1914-1918, only 4 years?

Open Letter to The President

Dear Mr. President,

We are only human. We are disappointed. How could we not be? We believed that you would attack what we think is the basic problem in Washington DC. The Massachusetts senate election shows how disappointed we are. We thought you would not let the big issue be bumped down for a later date. We thought your criticism of "business as usual in Washington DC" meant you would at least make the attempt right away to change how it has worked for such a long time. Were we nieve?

When one looks at the approval ratings of the US Congress they have continually slid downward for many years. Talk about the "slippery slope"... Why has that happened? All the movies make "hay" out of government distrust, incompetency, and snooping on it's citizens. Most conversations about politics these days have several references to the influence of money and lobbyist. People are very disgusted with "how it works" there in DC.

There are really a lot of good hard working law abiding citizens in this country. They don't generally take bribes or pass off shoddy products and workmanship. There may be at times some real B.S. when it comes to advertising but we're kind of used to that. So are we supposed to get used to "politics as usual"? The middle class is largely an honest bunch of folks, but"honest" doesn't seem to be the adjective frequently used in describing politicians.

That was the big issue we trusted you with Mr. President. We were hoping that you would find a way to start making politicians be more honest. We can't afford the big payoffs to get our agenda moved to the top. We're just ordinary people. Our emails, calls, and letters aren't noticed. We just don't have the money to get "our representatives" to listen to us. Seems like money is the only thing they do actually listen to. We thought this was the chance of a lifetime for the ordinary people to get a grip on our government...to do what The People really want done. That's why you got elected Mr. President.

When we call this the big issue, that's what we mean. If real progress could be made on money for political campaigns, then all issues would fall in behind that. Do you understand what we mean? We are talking about lobbyists. We are talking about bribes! Bribes and corruption are the hallmark of backwards and undeveloped nations. Is that what we have become? Is it normal, greasing someone's palm?

Perhaps there is time to turn over a new leaf. If not, at some point the American public will be fed up. They are close. Eventually they will figure out a way to take their government back. Don't count that out!

Your friend and loyal citizen,
Judson Malone

War

"War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debt and taxes; and armies and debts and taxes are the known instruments for the bringing the many under the domination of the few" James Madison

Fwd: New Year Wish List

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Van Os - Notes From a Texas Patriot <david@texas-patriot.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 5:04 AM
Subject: New Year Wish List
To: lorenzolemon@gmail.com

Notes from a Texas Patriot David Van Os   January 6, 2010  Dear Friends:   To share some food for thought, here is my wish list for the new year and beginning new decade.  Admittedly my list is idealistic.  The only thing that makes us think there is a difference between  idealism and realism is our unwillingness to dare. 1.    Health Care The current health care bills are scrapped; President Obama asserts leadership and appoints a task force chaired by Dr. Howard Dean to write a new bill; the Dean task force writes a bill that provides universal access to health care, forces competition, regulates insurance premiums, profits, and coverage, allows imported drugs, repeals the health insurance industry's antitrust exemption, and does not trample on individual freedom by forcing people to purchase anything as a condition of life in America; Obama exercises his new-found leadership muscle and insists that Congress pass it; a newly energized public turns out in huge rallies to support the bill; Reid and Pelosi follow suit; the Senate Democratic Caucus warns Joe Lieberman he will be stripped of his committee and subcommittee chairmanships if he doesn't support the basics of the bill;  the bill passes and America's health care delivery system joins the 21st century.  2.    Economy/Labor Relations The Employee Free Choice Act is enacted into law; the Taft-Hartley Act prohibitions on secondary picketing and boycotting are repealed; Section 14(b) of the Taft-Hartley Act is repealed; federal labor law is amended to ban the permanent replacement of workers engaged in a legal strike; and a revitalized American labor movement grows rapidly to re-establish collective bargaining as the principal model for American labor relations, so as to eliminate the lowering of wages as an element of competition among businesses. 3.   Constitution/Bill of Rights The Patriot Act expires without renewal.  A presidential directive bans all electronic surveillance by employees, agents, or contractors of the U.S. government except by judicial search warrants obtained through legal processes.  4.   The Rule of Law Because taking the United States of America to pre-emptive war on the basis of deliberate lies to Congress and the people and therefore killing thousands of innocent human beings without just cause is not an acceptable political judgment, George W. Bush is indicted and prosecuted for murder under the proposal by famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi in his book, The Prosecution of George Bush for Murder. 5.   The Rule of Law Because torture is not a matter merely of bad judgment but is an intolerable violation of well-established law, in preservation of the rule of law Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, and all other persons in positions of authority who ordered or approved torture are brought to justice for their crimes. 6.   Environment The human race collectively wakes up as a species and stops overheating its atmosphere and poisoning its own air, water, and food.   7.   Good Government Paul Krugman replaces Geithner as Secretary of the Treasury; James K. Galbraith replaces Summers as presidential economic advisor; Bill Richardson replaces Gates as Secretary of Defense; Maxine Waters replaces Rahm Emanuel as White House chief of staff; and Lloyd Doggett is appointed to the next U.S. Supreme Court vacancy.   8.   Democracy Non-paper trail voting machines are banned and hand-countable paper ballots become the method of voting in all elections.  9.   Equality and Freedom To preserve and protect the equality of human freedom, Congress repeals the Defense of Marriage Act; and the legislature and voters of Texas repeal the "marriage" amendment of the Texas Constitution.  10.   Constitution/Economy/Democracy Either the Supreme Court overrules its erroneous 19th century decision that declared corporations to have the same constitutional rights as human beings, or Congress and the people reverse the decision through a Constitutional amendment that inserts the word "natural" before the word "person" in the Due Process clause of the 5th Amendment and the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. 11.   Economic/Jobs/Standard of Living NAFTA and other "free trade" agreements are repealed and tax penalties are enacted that make it financially prohibitive for American companies to relocate to or maintain production in other countries. 12.   Economic/Usury Usury laws are restored, making it illegal to charge interest over 10% in any transaction. 13.   Economic/Democracy Strong new anti-consolidation laws are enacted to break up all the great concentrations of economic power in every industry. The financial services industry is reined in under these new laws and the huge banking, investment banking, financial services, and insurance conglomerates are broken up. The practices of credit rating and scoring are banned.  The new anti-consolidation laws are used to break up the corporate media empires.  Strengthened antitrust laws revitalize fair competition for honest business entrepreneurs.  With the breakup of the agribusiness conglomerates, fair competition and fair pricing are restored for the family farmer, resulting in more young people remaining in the essential business of farming.  14.   The Rule of Law The Wall Street criminals whose runaway greed created the financial crisis are brought to justice for their crimes. 15.  International Relations/Economy As a nation America finally realizes that World War II and the Cold War are both over, and resolves to dismantle its vast and unaffordable network of overseas military installations and adventures. For starters, all United States military personnel are withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan.  16.  Justice/Democracy/Checks and Balances Because restoring balance in the appellate courts is essential if the courts of Texas are ever to return to the people, all Democratic challengers for Republican-held seats win the 2010 elections for positions on the Texas Supreme Court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and Texas Courts of Appeal. 17.  Democracy/Transportation All parts of the Trans-Texas Corridor and all other plans for toll roads in Texas are rescinded permanently.  18.  Democracy Public financing of election campaigns is instituted at all levels of government.  19.  Checks and Balances The Democratic Party remembers its roots as the party of the people in the tradition of Jefferson, Jackson, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, and Rayburn. Thank you for your attention. What's on your list?   Sincerely,   David Van Os Thank you for reading this issue of Notes from a Texas Patriot. If you deem it worthy of circulation please forward it to others. If this issue of Notes from a Texas Patriot was forwarded to you and you wish to receive future issues, please send an email to david@texas-patriot.com with"subscribe" in the subject line. If for any reason you do not wish to receive any more of Notes from a Texas Patriot, please send an email to david@texas-patriot.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. Also, any feedback you wish to offer is welcome.

This email was sent to lorenzolemon@gmail.com by david@texas-patriot.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by David Van Os - Notes From a Texas Patriot | 158 Brees Boulevard | San Antonio | TX | 78209

--
    The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner
Visit my bloghttp://wwwlearn-past.blogspot.com/

Good reasons and real reasons

Dave Collins

It is generally held that George Santayana’s observation that “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it” has merit, whether the powerful, or even the powerless, hearken to it. But, it is also true – and equally frequently ignored – that absent an some knowledge of history, the affairs of the moment cannot be accurately understood. As the world enters the second decade of the 21^st century, two horrid, fetid, cesspools; reeking of death and ruin serve to illustrate this corollary to Santayana’s admonition – the war and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq. It seems all but certain that if the citizens of the United States had a clear and sufficient understanding of the history – just contemporary history would have been more than adequate – this country would not today be responsible for the conditions of these two horribly damaged nations and people.

It is not uncommon in the history of the United States, and indeed the world, that wars are sold to the public for reasons quite apart from the real reasons. Governments, being the creatures of man, often behave as J.P. Morgan once described: “A man has two reasons for doing anything; a good reason and the real reason.” He failed to add that those “good” reasons often turn out to be lies.

Since September 12, 2001, we have heard a constant stream of reasons and rationales for the invasion and occupation of these two countries. Despite the unequivocal evidence that most of the reasons in the case of Iraq were false, and known at the time promulgated to be false, many still cling to them. Most important among these “good reasons” is “defeat of terrorists” and revenge against Osama bin Laden, whether offered as rationale for invading Iraq or Afghanistan. The fact is that the first of these justifications is ludicrous on its face. It is not possible to wage war on a tactic, as has been repeatedly noted and ignored over the past 8 years. The second rationale is open to more than a little skepticism. It is noteworthy that while, 8 years on, bin Laden remains on the FBI “Most Wanted” list, the Department of Justice has still not filed any indictment of the former CIA-paid terrorist. In any case, it has long been asserted that bin Laden is no longer in Afghanistan and US intelligence agencies estimate that only 100 of his followers remain in that country, as was even noted in the most mainstream of media.

For those with a little knowledge of contemporary history, Mr. Morgan’s real reason for these wars should stand out with crystal-like clarity. In his 1980 State of the Union Address, President Jimmy Carter established what came to be known as the “Carter Doctrine.” Carter declared that the natural resources of the region, dubbed the “arc of instability” by his National Security Advisor, to be of critical, strategic national interest to the US. He pledged the use of all US power, to include military power, in protection of those interests. This doctrine was motivated in part – at least publicly – by the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (an invasion we now also know as “Charlie Wilson’s War,” named for Representative Wilson (D. TX)). However, the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo and the 1979 Islamist revolution in Iran most certainly played key roles, as well.

Carter’s National Security Advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski, described a geographic “arc” extending from the oil rich countries of the Middle East, through Central and South Asia. The concept has morphed to include the oil rich nations of Western Africa and beyond the Persian Gulf into the Pacific. If one is to examine the actions and policies of each Presidential Administration since Carter’s 1980 declaration, a consistent pattern is unmistakable. For examples, we have the Reagan Administration’s encouragement and support of the regime of Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran and of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan, George Herbert Walker Bush’s 1990 invasion of Iraq, referred to as “Operation Desert Storm,” and Clinton’s relentless pursuit of aerial bombardment of Iraq (on a near daily basis) paired with sanctions that further crippled the civilian infrastructure of that country.

It is all but certain that the death, destruction, cost and greatly aggravated regional instability that has followed in the wake of Carter’s 1980 declaration was never imagined, much less intended, by him at the time. It is also important to note that the Carter Doctrine, like its far better known early predecessor, the Monroe Doctrine, was not a one-sided policy. Monroe’s declaration during his 1823 address to Congress was balanced in terms and intent. Simply stated, he told the European colonial powers that the US would tolerate no further military meddling in the affairs of the Americas and, in exchange, pledged to refrain from meddling in the affairs of the European nations. Carter’s balance was not one of a foreign policy tit-for-tat, but rather a domestic policy. As he declared the crude oil of the “arc of instability” of strategic importance, at home he set about taking the first steps to mitigate that dependence on foreign-owned and controlled resources in the only way scientifically possible – by reducing US reliance on fossil fuels.

When Ronald Reagan came to power the next January, he famously ripped from the White House roof one of the most important symbols of that domestic policy – the solar water-heating panels. He repudiated the balancing aspect of the Carter Doctrine, while silently embracing its foreign and military component. It can be argued that creating that policy imbalance has had more to do with the tragic and ruinous results than did the original policy. That it was adhered to without acknowledgement (perhaps initially purely out of political spite in the same manner as the ridicule heaped upon Carter for his famous sweat-clad fireside chats) points to both the explanation as to why discussions of US policy in the region center on every justification except fossil fuel and marks critical difference in the evolution of the policy, as contrasted to Monroe’s.

Subsequent to Monroe’s declaration, his Doctrine was invoked on numerous occasions and, in several instances, extended and elaborated. For example, there is The Roosevelt Corollary, pronounced by Teddy Roosevelt in 1904 that assert a US unilateral right to intervene in the affairs of sovereign nations in the Americas. However, while Reagan, G. W. H. Bush, Clinton, G. W. Bush and now Obama have each applied the Carter Doctrine and elaborated it as conditions have changed (like the collapse of the Soviet Union, the primary original justification), none have done so explicitly. Take as case in point the two recent speeches by President Obama, at West Point and then in Oslo. In each speech he reaffirms the assertion of a unilateral right to apply military force in the region but at no point does he mention the specific strategic national interests at risk – other than a vague and non-specific reference to some potential future act of terrorism. However, it is clearly the Carter Doctrine which provides the formal policy foundation.

While Reagan and subsequent Presidents’ abandonment of the domestic leg of Carter’s policy has served to increase rather than decrease the nation’s dependence on oil, it is the second departure – the reliance on, but willful silence about the policy foundation - may be the more damaging. Because in each instance very different reasons or excuses for application of military force have been, at best, nonsensical (like defeating terrorism) and at worst outright lies, the nation has been deprived of the honest debate about whether the use of military force and economic sanctions are the best and proper methods for securing the resources to power our cars, power plants and most other aspects of our lives. The lack of such a debate may well prove catastrophic.

It would be improper to close this discussion without an acknowledgement that the Carter Doctrine, itself, reflected a long standing de facto US policy in the region. Briefly recounted, that story begins with the signing of the Versailles Treaty in 1919. Soon after, a young diplomat by the name of Winston Churchill began carving up Great Britain’s allocated part of what had previously been the Ottoman Empire. That empire had long dominated most of what has come to be called the “arc of instability.” Some have argued that much of that instability sprang from a ham-fisted job of surgery by Churchill. But oil was much on his mind, as well as of his US allies. By the early 1930s, the new oil industry, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran was expanding and in need of capital. For the players on Wall Street the prospects of staking a claim in the region was extremely attractive as their excesses of the 1920s had eliminated most profitable investment opportunities in the US (except in the domestic oil patch).

A lead player in that game was the venerable firm of Brown Brothers-Harriman. Two of the most active in that aspect of the Brown Brothers’ business were its senior executives Herbert Walker and Prescott Bush. One notable example of this is found in the intertwined relationships between Standard Oil of California, Brown Brothers-Harriman and the fledgling ARAMCO. That oil company based in Saudi Arabia was initially a joint enterprise of the Saudi royal family and Standard Oil of California. Standard Oil of New Jersey, with an additional set of inter-relationships with the Wall Street firm, took a major stake. Through that and other relationships, like Brown & Root a multi-generational family enterprise was established, and that family, from Senator Prescott Bush through two Presidential administrations, was instrumental in shaping US foreign policy for 6 decades. As a side note, Prescott Bush handled some rather unsavory business for Brown Brothers-Harriman in the lead-up to US involvement in WW II. Most notable was the firm’s financial participation in Standard Oil of New Jersey’s “marriage” with the German firm IG Farben. IG Farben was the producer of Zklon B used in the Nazi death camps and operated the chemical manufacturing facilities at the most notorious of those camps, Auschwitz.

In spite, or more likely because, of those activities Prescott was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in WW II. When the OSS morphed into the Central Intelligence Agency in 1947, its first Director was another key player in the Brown Brothers-Harriman-oil industry story; Allen Dulles. (For more on those complex and oily relationships, see this article) One of the CIA’s first major operations occurred some 6 years later when the people of Iran elected a man as prime minister who ran on a platform of nationalizing the oil resources of the country. It was CIA operative and cousin to Teddy Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt, who led the CIA plot that resulted in a successful coup against Prime Minister Mossadegh and thus forestalled the loss of the British Petroleum and other US and western corporate properties in the country until the Islamist revolution - where this discussion began.

Our nation is long, long over due for an examination and debate of the real reasons for our military policies in the nations of the “arc of instability,” if it is not already too late.

Fwd: Langston Hughes - Merry Christmas

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dave Collins <collindave@hughes.net>
Date: Thu, Dec 24, 2009 at 12:40 PM
Subject: Langston Hughes - Merry Christmas
To: Dave Collins <collindave@hughes.net>

Merry Christmas

"Merry Christmas": Published in New Masses (Dec. 1930), p. 4.

 

        Merry Christmas, China,

	From the gun-boats in the river,
	Ten-inch shells for Christmas gifts,
	And peace on earth forever.

	Merry Christmas, India,
	To Gandhi in his cell,
	From righteous Christian England,
	Ring out, bright Christmas bell!

	Ring Merry Christmas, Africa,
	From Cairo to the Cape!
	Ring Hallehuiah! Praise the Lord!
	(For murder and for rape.)

	Ring Merry Christmas, Haiti!
	(And drown the voodoo drums—
	We'll rob you to the Christian hymns
	Until the next Christ comes.)

	Ring Merry Christmas, Cuba!
	(While Yankee domination
	Keeps a nice fat president
	In a little half-starved nation.)

	And to you down-and-outers,
	("Due to economic laws")
	Oh, eat, drink, and be merry
	With a bread-line Santa Claus—

	While all the world hails Christmas,
	While all the church bells sway!
	While, better still, the Christian guns
	Proclaim this joyous day!

	While holy steel that makes us strong
	Spits forth a mighty Yuletide song:
	SHOOT Merry Christmas everywhere!
	Let Merry Christmas GAS the air!

--
    The past is never dead. It's not even past." William Faulkner
Visit my bloghttp://wwwlearn-past.blogspot.com/

Personal Worth (not the one on your financial statement)

Sure are lots of referenced to the "jobless" recovery these days. The "talking heads" of the business world bemoan the weakness of "consumer confidence" and the absence of consumer spending. This is ironic to hear after the dearth of the slightest concern in recent memory whether or nor the working class had jobs or not.

Why are the bankers and business moguls so concerned of late about "jobs" of all things? Don't they have heavier matters to fret about? The welfare of the commodity of "labor units" is not a traditional worry. They don't give a "rats ass" so to speak, if human beings have jobs or not!

Ah, as it turns out, big business(what a typically American term)needs the money of the "lowest class", the laboring class. Wow, if these common human beings don't have jobs they don't spend money and don't purchase the products of big industry...who have have done careful research and assure us that we need the 150 odd different kinds of toothpaste they have determined are absolutely essential to healthy teeth. Better get cracking and figure out how to get America back to work!

These words written in 1848 seem relevant in the 21st century. The ownership class "...has transformed personal worth into a mere exchange value, and substituted for countless dearly-bought chartered freedoms the one and only unconscionable freedom of Free Trade. It has in one word, replaced an exploitation veiled by religious and political illusions by exploitation open, unashamed, direct, and brutal." ...words of Marx and Engels, "The Communist Manifesto" Hmmmm...did they know about "free trade" in 1848?

The more things change the more they remain the same.