Hillary off in a rush to… Haiti, where she vows to undermine democracy.

This sort of stuff never ceases to amaze me. In the midst of the huge upheaval in Egypt, Hillary Clinton is on a plane. To where?

To Haiti.

The reasons for this should be extremely insightful to how she and the current US government really feel about democracy.

A) Haiti is trying to ignore US demands that certain candidates be thrown out of the upcoming election, and

B) Ignoring the US explicit wishes (especially highlighted by recent wikileaks revelations) Haiti has announced it will issue a passport to Aristide.

Of course, the threat is on the table, that if the Haitian slaves do not obey their masters in Washington D.C., all financial aid will be cut off to this extremely poor and beleaguered nation. Truly, our nation is run by secret combinations, of the type that would make Book of Mormon authors blush. An insightful article on this situation comes from Mark Weisbrot:

Haiti Resists US Pressure; Announces Aristide Can Return

It didn’t get much attention in the media, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did something quite surprising on Sunday. After taping interviews on five big Sunday talk shows about Egypt, she then boarded a plane to Haiti. Yes, Haiti. The most impoverished country in the hemisphere, not exactly a “strategic ally” or a global player on the world’s political stage.

Inquiring minds might want to know why the United States’ top foreign policy official would have to go to Haiti in the midst of the worst crisis she has faced. The answer is that there is also a crisis in Haiti. And it is a crisis that – unlike the humanitarian crisis that Haiti has suffered since the earthquake last year – Washington really cares about.

Like the Egyptians, Haitians are calling for free and fair elections. But in this case Washington will not support free and fair elections, even nominally. Quite the opposite, in fact. For weeks now the U.S. government has been threatening the government of Haiti with various punishments if it refuses to reverse the results of the first round of its presidential elections. Washington wants Haiti to eliminate the government’s candidate and leave only two right-wing candidates to compete in the second round.

Just three weeks ago it looked like a done deal. The Organization of American States (OAS) “Expert Verification Mission” did a report on Haiti’s November 28 presidential elections, and on January 10 it was leaked to the press. The report recommended moving the government’s candidate, Jude Celestin, into third place by just 0.3 percent of the vote; leaving right-wing candidates Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady, and Michel Martelly, a popular musician, in first and second place, respectively. This was followed with various statements and threats from U.S. and French officials that Haiti must accept this change of result. U.S. officials strongly implied that aid to Haiti would be cut if the government didn’t do as told. It looked as if desperately poor Haiti would have to give in immediately.

But then there was pushback. President Preval noted that six of the seven “experts” from the OAS Mission were from the U.S., Canada, and France – the three countries that led the effort to overthrow Haiti’s first democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in 2004.

Then the OAS report was found to be so deeply flawed as to be worthless in determining which candidates should proceed to a second round. The report ignored the problem of more than 150,000 missing votes that – given the voting patterns in the areas affected – would have shifted the result to Celestin. It also examined only a sample of the tally sheets, and did not use any statistical inference to estimate how the 92 percent of the tally sheets that it did not examine might have affected the result.

The call for new elections began to grow. It was joined from the beginning by 12 presidential candidates who had competed in the deeply flawed first round, in which only about a quarter of Haitians voted. This was down from 59.3 percent in the previous presidential election, partly because the country’s most popular political party – Fanmi Lavalas – was excluded from participating in the election.

Preval himself has been reported in the press to support new elections.

Then yesterday the Congressional Black Caucus leaders, in their first break with the foreign policy of the Obama administration, issued a statement that they called a “response to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s support of the OAS report”:

“The CBC urges the United States and the international community to uphold the ideals of fairness and support a new Haiti election process that is free and fair, respecting the rights of the Haitian people.”

But it is the rights of the Haitian people that Washington does not want to respect. Another reason that very likely contributed to Hillary Clinton’s sudden trip to Haiti on Sunday was that the Haitian government decided it is willing to issue a diplomatic passport to former President Aristide, who has been kept in exile in South Africa since the U.S.-organized coup ousted him in 2004. Recent Wikileaks cables show that the United States has pressed hard to keep him out of Haiti, and to keep him from exerting any influence from abroad. And his party, Fanmi Lavalas, was banned from participating in the November elections, as in other elections since he was removed from the country on a U.S. plane in 2004. Aristide issued a statement on January 19  that he was ready to come home.

It may seem strange that U.S. officials care so much about controlling a government as poor and without influence as Haiti, but they clearly do, having organized the overthrow of the country’s elected president in 2004, and contributed to the coup and subsequent death squads when Aristide was overthrown the first time in 1991.

The amazing thing about the last two months is that they are meeting such resistance from within Haiti, and from the Congressional Black Caucus – which forced then President Bill Clinton to restore Aristide to the presidency in 1994. Signs of further international support for democracy in Haiti were shown on January 26, when the OAS resolution on Haiti failed to endorse the recommendations of its own Mission’s report – due to resistance from left governments in Latin America. And the Rio Group, which includes 23 nations encompassing almost all of Latin America and the Caribbean, was also blocked by left governments from passing a resolution on Haiti.

The government of Haiti is scheduled to announce its decision on the elections today, and it may well fold under the enormous pressure from Washington. But with Aristide’s return imminent, the battle is far from over.

It is not only Egyptians that want free and fair elections, and not only the Arab world that is resisting U.S.-backed tyranny.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/feb/02/haiti-usforeignpolicy

America’s hypocrisy shines bright in Egypt.

So funny to see Hillary Clinton saying that, “Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people,”

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2044902,00.html#ixzz1COoCSMvg

while El Baradei has a different idea about this:

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=205272

Of course, it’s this cozy relationship our leaders and businessmen in the US have with dictators that gives us a bad name in the world. Clinton has been quoted as saying, “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/09/AR2009030902478.html

Idiotic.

Of course, Egyptians on the street are a bit upset that the gas cannisters being fired at them by their police have, “made in the USA,” inscribed on them. That is the least of our assistance to them though, we also give 2.2 billion dollars and all sorts of high tech weapons to the Egyptian dictatorship.

Bush had quite a cozy relationship with Mubarak as well: “Our friendship is strong. It’s a cornerstone of — one of the main cornerstones of our policy in this region, and it’s based on our shared commitment to peace, security and prosperity.  I appreciate the opportunity, Mr. President, to give you an update on my trip. And I appreciate the advice you’ve given me. You’ve seen a lot in your years as President; you’ve got a great deal of experience, and I appreciate you feeling comfortable in sharing that experience once again with me.  I really appreciate Egypt’s support in the war on terror.”

http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080116-2.html

Here is Obama encouraging Mubarak to reform: “No, I tend not to use labels for folks. I haven’t met him. I’ve spoken to him on the phone.  He has been a stalwart ally in many respects, to the United States. He has sustained peace with Israel, which is a very difficult thing to do in that region.  But he has never resorted to, you know, unnecessary demagoging of the issue, and has tried to maintain that relationship. So I think he has been a force for stability. And good in the region. Obviously, there have been criticisms of the manner in which politics operates in Egypt.  And, as I said before, the United States’ job is not to lecture, but to encourage, to lift up what we consider to be the values that ultimately will work – not just for our country, but for the aspirations of a lot of people.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2009/06/090602_obama_transcript.shtml

Now the US calls for immediate reforms. This is why the US is hated around the world.

Now, there are rumors that Sunday, the army will crack down mercilessly on the protests after stirring up some staged violence on the part of the protesters and the US will likely condone the violence in favor of, “stability.” And so the story goes.

Graham: murdering Iranians will help them to take control of their own government.

This man, who is elected by the people who think he is a wise man, able to govern our nation and represent the people of South Carolina, wants to murder thousands of people:

“My view of military force would be not to just neutralize their nuclear program, which are probably dispersed and hardened, but to sink their navy, destroy their air force and deliver a decisive blow to the Revolutionary Guard.

“In other words, neuter that regime,” added Graham, who spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum.

But wait, he is doing this for the Iranian people:

Graham said he hoped that would help Iranians have a chance to take back their government.

Of course, after you kill their husbands, brothers and sons, they will be united against their own government instead of the government that just murdered their loved ones. No wonder the people of South Carolina elected you Mr. Graham. Such wisdom, unfortunately, passes for the wisdom of our day in this country.

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=194304

We need to leave Afghanistan yesterday.

Stories like this show exactly why we should get out of Afghanistan yesterday. We killed 10 election workers in northern Afghanistan today. We claim we killed bad guys instead.

Mr Khorasani (a parliamentary candidate), who was injured in the strike, told the BBC that the victims were his family members and supporters involved in his campaign.

“I thought that the foreign troops came here to bring us security and democracy.

“I believed they were helping us so that we can campaign for the parliamentary election. Instead they attacked me,” he said, speaking from his home in Kabul.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11163742

What does the USA have to say about this?

US Marine Corps Maj Gen David Garza said: “We’re aware of the allegations that this strike caused civilian casualties and we’ll do our best to get to the bottom of the accusations.”

He added: “We’re confident this strike hit only the targeted vehicle after days of tracking the occupants’ activity.”

Mr. President?

President Karzai’s office strongly condemned the strike.

“Air bombardments in the villages of Afghanistan will only end up killing civilians and will not be effective in the fight against terrorism,” it said.

Israel restricts Gazans access to their own land.

A new UN report shows that Israel has cost Gaza 300 million dollars in lost revenue due to taking up their land to make a buffer zone and killing those who come into the buffer zone (which consists mainly of farm land). The report also notes that around 26 million dollars have been lost by Palestinian fishermen who can only go out 4.5 kilometers without being shot at by the Israeli navy.

Though in most cases the troops fire warning shots, 22 people have been killed and 146 have been wounded in such incidents since the end of Operation Cast Lead in January 2009.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/un-report-idf-barring-gazans-access-to-farms-fishing-zones-1.309022

Overall, this land grab constitutes 17% of Gaza’s territory.

It is this Israel that killed Fadel Shana, Reuters cameraman along with 8 other civilians back in 2008:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fadel_Shana’a

Of course, if Palestinians were encroaching on Israeli land and taking away their livelihood and killing Israeli civilians in order to create a “necessary buffer zone” to fend against Israeli militant attacks, we would hear a whole lot about it in the news.

No real point to this post, just pointing out that Israel continues to kill, by land or by sea, by guns or by inducing poverty… it is no difference.

Rehash on ‘Patriotism’

Gotta repost this one I did first 2 years ago:

In commemoration of this Independance Day weekend (for which I am a little late in writing about) I would like to bring to the reader’s mind the principle of Patriotism.  I am bothered by the display of patriotism I see in my church so often.  I am really bothered by the huge gobs of patriotism taught to my kids in elementary school so often.  They can sing the theme songs of each of the 4 branches of the military from memory.  So many of the assemblies parents are invited to make lengthly mention of military in conjunction with the “virtue” of patriotism.

Therefore, I bring you my very favorite words on the subject from President Spencer W. Kimball of the Church I belong to, who died back in 1985 I believe.

We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel — ships, planes, missiles, fortifications — and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching:

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:44-45).

Also, I would like to point out one of my favorite parts of the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson:

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Have we arrived at this point yet?  Thomas Jefferson thought we arrive at this point at least every twenty years as is evidenced in his letter to William Smith in 1787:  http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl64.htm

And now, for a collection of some of my favorite quotes on the topic of patriotism:

I would like to be remembered as a man who served his country.-General Augusto PinochetI am not going to repent. I am not going to ask for favours. What I did, I did for my country.

-P. W. Botha, former President of Apartheid South Africa

I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country.

-Pol Pot, mass murderer of Cambodia

It is impossible to conceive a more troublesome or more garrulous patriotism (speaking of the patriotism of the USA); it wearies even those who are disposed to respect it.

-Alexis de Tocqueville

Pledges of allegiance are marks of totalitarian states, not democracies. I can’t think of a single democracy except the United States that has a pledge of allegiance.

-David Kertzer

The very existence of the state demands that there be some privileged class vitally interested in maintaining that existence. And it is precisely the group interests of that class that are called patriotism.

-Mikhail Bakunin

A problem with treating patriotism as an objective virtue is that patriotisms often conflict. Soldiers of both sides in a war may feel equally patriotic, creating an ethical paradox. (If patriotism is a virtue, then the enemy is virtuous, so why try to kill them?)

-Wikipedia

The heights of popularity and patriotism are still the beaten road to power and tyranny; flattery to treachery; standing armies to arbitrary government; and the glory of God to the temporal interest of the clergy.

-David Hume

Patriotism … is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity, and increases his arrogance and conceit.

-Emma Goldman

Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all others because you were born in it.

-George Bernard Shaw

Patriotism is a arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.

-George Jean Nathan

Patriotism ruins history.

-Goethe

In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell.

-H. L. Mencken

Men in authority will always think that criticism of their policies is dangerous. They will always equate their policies with patriotism, and find criticism subversive.

-Henry Steele Commager

During times of war, hatred becomes quite respectable, even though it has to masquerade often under the guise of patriotism.

-Howard Thurman

Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

-Samuel Johnson

When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross.

-Sinclair Lewis

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism – how passionately I hate them!

-Albert Einstein

I have no sense of nationalism, only a cosmic consciousness of belonging to the human family.

-Rosika Schwimmer

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, I am a citizen of the world.

-Socrates

I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.

-Eugene V. Debbs

Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind.  We love the land of our nativity, only as we love all other lands.  The interests, rights, and liberties of American citizens are no more dear to us than are those of the whole human race.  Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism, to revenge any national insult or injury.

-William Lloyd Garrison, Declaration of Sentiments, Boston Peace Conference 1838

Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?

-Blaise Pascal

It is lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.

-Voltaire

Satan reigns with blood and horror upon the earth.

Cold blooded execution of US citizen by Israeli military captured on video

This video, smuggled out of Israel, purports to show the execution of the US citizen aboard the Gaza flotilla by Israeli Defense Forces. Whether this is the US citizen or not, the execution of this civilian by Israeli military is chilling and it shows exactly why all camera film was confiscated besides the IDF controlled footage.

Eyewitness accounts of the Israeli massacre of peace activists begin to come out.

I’ve been dying to hear eye-witness reports of what happened on the flotilla from someone other than Israeli Defense Forces. Little by little, the accounts are starting to come out. But, it looks like the IDF confiscated as many cameras as they could find and photographic evidence is not very forthcoming. However, here are a few of the accounts I’m finding so far, first from Norman Paech:

But a group of German witnesses who experienced the assault first hand before being detained and deported denied anyone on board was armed with more than a few wooden sticks.

“Personally I saw two and a half wooden batons that were used … There was really nothing else. We never saw any knives,” Norman Paech, a 72-year-old former member of parliament told reporters in Berlin.

“The Israeli government justifies the raid because they were attacked. This is absolutely not the case,” said Paech, wrapped in a blue blanket and visibly shaken by the bloody outcome to the mission

“This was not an act of self-defence.”

Paech, a former MP from the far-left Die Linke party, said he took photographic evidence but that his camera had been confiscated.

He denied Israel’s suggestion that passengers had been lying in ambush.

“We had not prepared in any way to fight. We didn’t even consider it,” he added. “No violence, no resistance — because we knew very well that we would have absolutely no chance against soldiers like this.

“This was an attack in international waters on a peaceful mission… This was a clear act of piracy,” he added.

And from 2 other German MP’s:

The former MP’s comments were backed up by two others on board the convoy, MPs Inge Hoeger, 59, and Annette Groth, 56.

“We felt like we were in a war, like we were being kidnapped,” Hoeger said. “Nobody had a weapon.”

From a Greek citizen aboard one of the ships:

A Greek activist on one of the smaller boats, the Eleftheri Mesogeio, said Israeli troops used rubber bullets, tear gas and electroshock weapons to subdue those aboard.

Commandos jumped onto the ship at around 0530 GMT, an hour after the clashes on the Mavi Marmara, he said.

“They fired rubber coated bullets, tear gas and then used electroshock weapons on some activists,” he told Skai television after Israel deported him and five compatriots to Athens.

And from a frenchman:

A Frenchman detained on another of the six ships told reporters his fellow passengers offered no resistance to arrest.

“The instructions were clear. Do not provoke, remain calm and go to meet them (the commandos) saying ‘We are pacifists and not terrorists’,” Youssef Benderbal said after arriving at a Paris airport.

“Masked commandos took possession of the ship. They were aiming for the captain’s cabin,” said Benderbal, a member of a French aid group for Palestinians.

From another Greek man:

The Greek passenger Grigoropoulos said he was kept incommunicado in “wretched detention conditions” at the Israeli port of Ashdod, denied access to a lawyer and made to sign papers he did not understand.

He also said “two Greek activists were beaten up” there by Israeli police.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gbT81EG8EVUYrrBd8vcdedgyvWpQ

Notice how their accounts sound so foreign from the official account of the Israeli Defense Forces. A common thing for anyone who has been keeping track of Israeli attacks on Palestinians where Palestinians tell of how they had the crap beaten out of them and the unharmed Israeli soldiers say they were only acting in self-defense or some other sort of hogwash.

Also, as Turkey’s Erdogan has stated, the US needs to come out with a harsher statement against Israel’s aggression against peace activists than Obama’s weakly expressed regret for loss of life.

We can only hope that a truly impartial investigation can take place of this massacre. Any investigation done by Israel of it’s own actions should be rejected as it is common sense in the real world that such investigations are not impartial… but for some reason, we have organizations such as the CIA investigating itself and think it is ok. Send someone from Norway or China in to investigate. Let’s hear the real story, though those of us familiar with Israel’s heavy-handed techniques already know what happened.

Israel murders up to 16 peace activists on the Gaza flotilla.

This is really awful. The NY Times is reporting at least 10 murders and Al Jazeera is reporting 16 murders as Israeli Defense Forces attacked the peaceful humanitarian aid vessels bound for Gaza, in international waters I think.

The warships first intercepted the aid flotilla shortly before midnight on Sunday, surprising the boats in international waters, according to activists on one vessel.

Israel had vowed not to let the flotilla reach the shores of Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway.

Named the Freedom Flotilla, and led by the pro-Palestinian Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi, the convoy of six cargo and passenger boats is the most ambitious attempt yet to break Israel’s three-year blockade of Gaza.

“Two people have been killed on board the Turkish boat and 30 or more were wounded,” said Mary Hughes Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement, speaking to the Reuters news agency. She said Israeli commandos had apparently “descended on the boat from helicopters and took it over.”

An Israeli television station reported the 10 deaths, according to Reuters, an account that was confirmed on Israeli Army Radio, according to Bloomberg News.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/middleeast/01flotilla.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

The civilian flotilla riders were apparently unarmed:

Footage from the flotilla’s lead vessel, the Mavi Marmara, showed armed Israeli soldiers boarding the ship and helicopters flying overhead.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, on board the Mavi Marmara, said Israeli troops had used live ammunition during the operation.

The Israeli Army Radio said soldiers opened fire “after confronting those on board carrying sharp objects”.

Free Gaza Movement, the organisers of the flotilla, however, said the troops opened fire as soon as they stormed the ships.

They also said the ships were now being towed to the Israeli town of Haifa, instead of Ashdod to avoid waiting journalists.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201053133047995359.html

Israel’s murders continue. How long will the international community stand for this atrocious face of a barbaric regime?