Gates Heads to Europe to Dispel Defeatism

American troops in Afghanistan. How long must the USA be mired in a war in a country that outfought Imperial Britain of the Raj and the USSR? The US is doing no better, it may be doing worse…

US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, en route to Europe to attend a regional defence conference in Macedonia, dismissed comments by Western European officials about the war in Afghanistan as “defeatist”. “While we face significant challenges in Afghanistan”, he told newsmen ahead of his arrival in Europe, “there is no reason to underestimate the opportunities to be successful in the long run”. Britain’s military commander and ambassador in Afghanistan are being “defeatist” by thinking the war cannot be won, Mr Gates said, as Washington seeks more troops for the conflict that started exactly seven years ago.

These comments coming from official sources in Britain, a key ally to the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq, were matched by the top United Nations official in Kabul, who said success was only possible through dialogue and other political effort. Security has deteriorated markedly over the past two years after the invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001 to oust the Taliban government in the wake of the 11 September attacks on the United States. Whilst Mr Gates acknowledged significant challenges in Afghanistan, he stressed there is no reason to be “defeatist”. Washington is currently reviewing its Afghan strategy in a similar way to the 2006 reappraisal of its Iraq policy that led to a “surge” of 30,000 additional US troops that helped stave off civil war in the country.

In a new policy shift, Mr Gates said part of the solution in Afghanistan would be negotiating with members of the Taliban willing to work with the government in Kabul. He compared that to reconciliation efforts in Iraq, where tribal leaders have been persuaded to switch sides to fight the insurgency and al Qaeda. “What we have seen in Iraq”, he told newsmen, “applies in Afghanistan”, Mr Gates said of the possibility of peace talks with the Taliban. “Part of the solution is strengthening the Afghan security forces. Part of the solution is reconciliation with people who are willing to work with the Afghan government”. The trouble with the latter part of that statement is that the Taliban have repeatedly rejected the idea of talks unless all 70,000 foreign troops leave the country.

In another sign of shifting opinion, Germany said it will no longer provide troops from its special forces to support US-led counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan, while the US general commanding NATO forces in the country said last month he needed three more brigades, around 15,000 troops, on top of an extra 4,000 soldiers due to arrive in January. The review of Washington’s Afghan policy currently underway is most likely to yield only recommendations rather than serious policy decisions in an election year. Furthermore, it will be up to the next president, either John McCain or Barack Obama, to act when either of them takes office in January.

8 October 2008

Yuri Reshetnikov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=33508&cid=87&p=08.10.2008

A New Age of Global Capitalism Dawning

Dozens of finance ministers and central bankers converged on Washington this week for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Their primary concern is how to get countries to work together in fashioning a concerted response by the growing financial crisis originating in the United States. The trouble is that these institutions no longer have the resources or authority to lead such an effort. The IMF, which played a central role in the Asian crisis, has been relegated to the sidelines this time. Its credibility was tarnished by that episode and its skills are not believed to be suited to a crisis enveloping advanced Western economies. So these days, it mainly issues stark warnings about the impact on developing countries.

Paradoxically, despite the global spread of the crisis, the world seems to be ill-prepared to tackle it in a global, all-encompassing manner. According to Fred Bergsten, the director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, “The globalisation of the crisis means we need a globalisation of responses, but, most of the responses will be national. For all the institutions we have”, he pointed out, including the IMF and the World Bank, and the Group of 8, “We don’t have the right institutions to do that”. When the White House brought out its 700-billion dollar (18.244 trillion roubles. 511.28 billion euros. 404.39 billion UK pounds) rescue plan two weeks ago and had it passed by Congress late last week, its sheer size was meant to soothe the global financial system, restoring trust and confidence. But, now, that the bailout plan is finally in place, it looks like “a pebble tossed into a churning sea”, as one economic expert described it.

The Los Angeles Times, in a recent scathing article, referred to the current economic woes afflicting the United States as “a quick slide from an economic superpower to an economic basket case”. The Los Angeles Times’ columnist Rosa Brooks said, tongue-in-cheek, “It’s not every day that a superpower makes a bid to transform itself into a Third World nation, and we here at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund want to be among the first to welcome you to the community of states in desperate need of international economic assistance. As you spiral into a catastrophic financial meltdown, we are delighted to respond to your Treasury Department’s request that we undertake a joint stability assessment of your financial sector. In these turbulent times, we can provide services ranging from subsidised loans to expert advisors willing to perform an emergency overhaul of your entire government”.

8 October 2008

Yuri Reshetnikov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=33507&cid=87&p=08.10.2008

US Presidential Race Heating Up

Just as the 4 November election date is drawing closer, the US presidential candidates have been trading blows about each other’s voting record and past associations. Addressing a gathering of fellow Republicans in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Republican hopeful John McCain on Monday called his Democratic rival Barack Obama a liar as he levelled his harshest criticism yet, and said the campaign boils down to one basic question, “Who is Obama really?” Mr McCain, speaking about the financial crisis, took offence at Mr Obama’s accusation that he opposed regulation that would have prevented the credit crunch. Adopting an aggressive tone on the eve of their second debate of the season, the Republican presidential candidate criticised Mr Obama’s ties to Chicago, his legislative record, and even his pair of best-selling memoirs.

“I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed”, Mr McCain said. “Who is the real Senator Obama?” the Arizona Senator asked. “Is he the candidate who promises to cut middle-class taxes, or the politician who voted to raise middle-class taxes? … Is he the candidate who promises change, or is he the politician who has bought into everything that is wrong with Washington? And, he’s bought into it, big time”. Mr McCain drew loud cheers when he said Barack Obama has written two memoirs but “he’s not exactly an open book”. Mr McCain also raised the spectre of illegal foreign donors to Obama’s campaign and special “earmark” spending requests for campaign fundraisers. “Why has Senator Obama refused to disclose the names of people funding his campaign?” Mr McCain said as the crowd booed. The Republican campaign earlier threatened to ask the Federal Electoral Commissions to check out the veracity of those charges, but, things never got any further than that.

Barack Obama, for his part, accused Mr McCain of being more concerned about his own election campaign than by the country’s economic woes. Simultaneously, his campaign organisers e-mailed to his supporters a video focusing on John McCain’s onetime dealings with Charles Keating, a savings and loan financier and McCain friend and campaign contributor who ultimately was convicted of securities fraud. Just months into his Senate career in the late 1980s, McCain made what he has called “the worst mistake of my life” by participating in meetings with banking regulators on behalf of Keating.

Meanwhile, the latest opinion polls indicate that Americans see John McCain as anyone but a saviour of the country’s ailing economy. According to a new study quoted by CNN, Barack Obama can count on a hefty 53 percent support base, his growing popularity seen by many as stemming directly from the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration. Recent surveys find 56 percent of respondents saying they were sure that, if he were elected, John McCain would follow in the current Administration’s footsteps, 6 percent more than just a month ago. 68 percent of those polled believed Barack Obama would be able to rein in the current financial crisis.

8 October 2008

Mike Sullivan

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=33506&cid=87&p=08.10.2008

Editor’s Note:

A dedication to objectivity prompts the following two observations. Firstly, John McCain and his chief foreign-affairs advisor, Randall Schneumann, have both accepted money from the Georgian junta to act as their paid shills in Washington. I would say that Mr McCain had best rein in that line of inquiry. Secondly, Mr McCain is a known compulsive gambler. Where are his W2Gs (records of winnings and losses)? He has never made them public. In short, his own position is very shaky on the issues he has raised, this means that he is getting extremely poor advice, or he is refusing to act on same. This man is not showing good judgement… this is not even bringing in his extraordinarily poor choice of a running-mate. Kaufft nicht bei McCain und Palin.

BMD

Ukrainian President Dissolves Parliament and Calls Snap Elections

Viktor Yanukovich (1950- ), leader of the Party of Regions, one of the leaders of the patriotic opposition in the Ukraine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko dissolved parliament on Wednesday evening and announced snap elections in the country. The step was taken due to a failure by members of parliament to form a new ruling coalition. Mr Yushchenko, currently on a visit to Italy, announced the former Soviet republic’s third general elections in less than three years during a pre-recorded speech on national television. No date was set for the polls.

Under the Ukrainian constitution, the president has the right to dissolve parliament, the Supreme Rada, in the event of no coalition being formed within 30 days. “In conformity with the constitution, I am announcing the termination of the Supreme Rada’s powers and the holding of parliamentary elections”, he said. “The vote will take place in a democratic and lawful fashion”, he added. Mr Yushchenko blamed the collapse of the country’s ruling coalition on Prime Minster Yuliya Timoshenko.

The pro-Western ruling coalition in the Ukraine collapsed on 3 September, when the pro-presidential Our Ukraine party withdrew from the alliance after Tymoshenko’s bloc joined with the opposition Party of Regions, led by pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovich, to approve legislation substantially cutting presidential powers. Yushchenko called the move a “constitutional coup”. The coalition was officially dissolved on September 16. “By October 8, 2008 I have not received a single proposal from any political force on the formation of a majority coalition. Accordingly…the Ukrainian people must decide”, Mr Yushchenko said, also saying that parliament had driven itself into a “dead-end”.

Analysts believe that both Mr Yushchenko and Ms Timoshenko will stand for president in elections due in 2010. The two were allies in the 2004 “Orange Revolution”, but, have since drifted apart on a host of issues, including the recent armed conflict between Russia and Georgia. Ms Timoshenko earlier blocked a parliamentary vote to condemn Russia’s “aggression” in Georgia during the recent conflict over South Ossetia and resisted the president’s attempts to impose restrictions on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, currently stationed in Ukraine’s Sevastopol port, as “populist”. Mr Yushchenko subsequently accused her of being a Kremlin agent.

8 October 2008

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20081009/117604306.html

Editor’s Note:

“Them whom the gods would destroy, first, they make them mad”. This is a textbook instance of such for all to see. Yushchenko thinks that the USA is going to ride in and save his bacon. The USA is mired in deep recession, and runs a serious risk of depression if the present hyper-capitalist policies are continued. Thus, it cannot help itself, let alone a popinjay puppet in a distant land not vital to American basic national interests. For the next few years, the USA is going to have to repair the damage wrought by the economic policies that have been in place since the 80s. Both Democratic and Republican administrations are equally at fault here. In the end, the state regulates the market; the market does not regulate the state, important as it is. The greed of the short-sighted businessman has to be brought to heel. Reflect on the fact that Lehman Brothers was contemplating fat bonuses for its execs even as it was asking for bailout aid. The idle hubris and covetous gasping of this class must be curbed for the good of the community, a very conservative goal, indeed.

All fripperies shall have to be cut, and that includes aiding tinhorn despots such as Yushchenko and Saakashvili, and putting the Pentagon on a slimming plan. There is no doubt that the USA could have more than adequate defences for half of the present budget. Of course, the failed wars in Afghanistan and Iraq shall have to be rolled up, much as General Eisenhower terminated the stalemated war in Korea (and, later, refused to buy the pig in a poke in Indochina in 1954). There is no money left for adventurism. There is no money left for the “New World Order”. God willing, this shall end the neocons and their opium dreams of world hegemony. Our future depends on it.

BMD