Sunday, August 21, 2011

MUAMMAR GADHAFI IS GOING DOWN: BUT WHAT ABOUT U.S. MILITARISM AND NATO'S ROLE?

Looks like Muammar is history, GOOD!
But let's do it peacefully next time, not with intercontinental military gambits for cash please.
John Lennon and Yoko sing "Give Peace A Chance."
How 'bout giving peace a chance first, (maybe last and always one day, too)?
As of 2am August 22nd local time it appears, according to reports by the media from the NY Times, CNN, NBC and the Washington Post that opposition forces are about to overthrow “Colonel” Muammar Gadhafi, with rebel forces within Tripoli, and reports that two Gadhafi sons have been captured, one his hand-chosen heir apparent, and both bound for the International Court of Justice at The Hague. If true, any sensible person will say good riddance.
Despot Hosni Mubarak was overthrown peacefully, for the most part,
earlier this year by heroes in Cairo, Alexandria and other
city squares, and he's pictured here in his cage
as he undergoes trial in Egypt for his
felonious conduct and murders.
The Nobel Peace Prize, won by Doctors Without Borders for their many humanitarian
good works! Donate today! :)

Our Awesome Incumbent President Barack Obama
Also Won The Nobel Peace Prize in 2009.
I disagree with many of his policies on military affairs
and believe the State Department headed by our awesome Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
can be given more sway more quickly as his terms progress.
However the changes from rampant militarism and the
despotism which caused the rest of the civilized world to despise the
Administration of George W. Bush
who even antagonized our NATO allies
by calling French Fries "Freedom Fries" and what-not
because the French government chose not to walk in lock-step with Bush Administration policies
is still a breath of fresh air.
Thanks again, Barack!
A Gadhafi government spokesman reports 1,300 dead in just the past 24 hours in Tripoli alone. :( This is bad news, indeed. A small city by U.S. standards, with a population of only 1,000,000: Pity the poor residents of Tripoli and of Libya tonight who are NOT engaged in fighting. OMG! Pray please, if you are prone to prayer at all, send out good vibes or whatever you believe in, and I call on my many atheist and agnostic friends to do whatever they can from a humanitarian standpoint. And soon there will be a humanitarian mop-up operation required following this violent, bloody revolution, much unlike the more pacifist and admirable overthrow of Hosni Mubarak earlier this year in Egypt by peaceful heroes occupying squares in cities such as Alexandria and Cairo and overthrowing that decades-old despot! But please, he’s under trial at present in a cage from a hospital bed, under threat of the Death Penalty which is only murder by State with revenge as the motive, and a bad way to start the new regime in Egypt, let’s not kill Mubarak to show people that killing people is wrong, my Egyptian friends. http://doctorswithoutborders.com/ might be a good place to donate some cash tonight, earmarking your money for the Libyan civilian population. They appear to have some infrastructure in place and boots on the ground for the humanitarian mop-up operation to come. <3 Doctors Without Borders, a Nobel Peace Prize winning group! :)
I disagree with the NATO bombing campaign which enabled this overthrow. I don’t like Gadhafi or his rule, but I do NOT believe France, Britain and the U.S. have a say in it. France, usually credited or debited by American policymakers, depending on whether they are Republicans or Democrats, with being TOO pacifistic, took the lead in this bombing campaign, now proceeding for many months. The reason: simple. Libya happens to be a former FRENCH colony, and France has more financial stake in the affairs of Libya than any other developed consumer-driven economic power. Britain second, and the U.S. third. So the U.S. has only provided limited airpower compared to the French and British, but economics has driven the NATO charge here. Grays happen in International Affairs, and ‘goodbye to Gadhafi’ feels good, but the role of the Obama Administration and of NATO just tastes real bad. I’m sure it does to the families in Tripoli tonight who have no stake in the fighting. 1,300 at a minimum dead just in the past 24 hours in one small city for money. MONEY is what has driven the US foreign policy since WWII as well as economics and our demand for evermore consumer goods and an endless expansion of the American economy.

Its time to think about limiting the growth of the US economy, and scaling back our overseas military engagements. Iraq was based on lies that there were weapons of mass destruction, even Secretary of State and former General Colin Powell resigned due to the lies he was handed by DOD Sec. Rumsfeld, VP Cheney and Dubye Bush. Afghanistan has been a debacle, and when we’re finally gone it will revert to the tribal rivalries it’s endured for centuries. Our military involvements in Oman, Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere are not answers. They are PROBLEMS. We need to halt violent ‘solutions’ to these perceived problems. We need to reverse our dependence on an oil based economy. We need to back off from the Netanyahu regime in Israel and support a negotiated PEACE with a legitimate Palestine with a right to self-defense. And President Obama should stop listening to the boys with their killing toys in the uniformed brass at the Pentagon and the male-dominated civilian leadership at the DOD. It’s time for Democrats to become liberals in every sense. And I beg of him as a fellow member of the United Church of Christ: ask yourself, Mr. President, the next time you have a choice between letting Hillary Clinton’s State Department take the lead or letting the military brass have their day yet again: WWJD? Would he choose bombing nations oceans and continents away, or would he “turn the other cheek” [Matthew 5:39] and choose the commandment “Thou shalt not kill?” [Exodus 20:13]. Amen.

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