Some observations from the last 12 months:1. The Democrats in America must be the most ineffective 'liberal' party of all time. With record breaking majorities in both the House and the Senate, the Democrats struggled to achieve major policy breakthroughs -- and failed to effectively communicate to the American public the(domestic) breakthroughs they had made. Guaranteed healthcare for everyone? Actually not a bad thing, and not evidence of Nazi Communist conspiracy. Subsequently, the "yes we can" party took a hammering in the US mid-terms and the door of opportunity was slammed shut (although one could be forgiven for thinking that the Democrats had been missing the door and repeatedly walking into the frame.)
2. The frequency with which Iraq and Afghanistan occupation advocates and army groupies say we 'need to start.......' is breathtaking. 'We need to start looking at the politics as well the security situations....' This would be lame enough 6 months into the invasions. 10 years into the Afghanistan occupation it is truly mind-numbing.
3. Obama and his administration constitute a principle-free zone. 'What is the media profile?' is the first take they have on everything. This is why Obama is a Blair clone rather than a Bush one. Nobody of any intellect expected anything from Bush. Conversely, Blair and Obama came in on waves of optimism which broke on a craggy, polluted beach of venality, spinelessness and spin.
4. The wedge between the Islamic world and the west has become wider/bigger in 2010 due to bonehead securocracy continuing to dominate the agenda of the US and it's toady partners (UK, France, Canada, Australia?, Sweden et al.)
5. We are witnessing the first death throes of US political and economic dominance in the world. Roll on it's demise in the shadow of Chinese and South American confidence and ascent. They will fail too. But at least there may be a hope of something better than the vulgar,dumb venality which the US now represents on the global stage. Sarah Palin, The Religious Right,Sex In The City, Friends, The Hurt Locker, Fox News, Zioconservatism..........
A Happy New Year to all readers of Wolves In The City and Afghanistan War. We will prevail. See you in 2011.
Have a good holiday my friend.
ReplyDeleteSee you in the Next Year.
Your fourth point reminds me of a Telegraph report I stumbled upon the other day, dated July 2009. It warns Obama not to ignore North Africa in his quest to repair America's relationship with the Muslim world. Then, after admitting the difficulty of the task, lists Obama's "qualified" foreign policy team: Biden, Clinton, Mitchell, and Holbrooke.
ReplyDeleteLeaving aside their suspect "achievements" in the Middle East, or lack thereof, the overriding delusion is why Washington expects to connect with the Muslim world through a bunch of old, white Israeli-boosters. Add America's obstinacy with Europe's anti-Muslim backlash and 2011 doesn't look so promising.
Obama had it right about needing a Palestinian state to defuse tensions. Unfortunately he's been, as Helen Thomas observed, "spineless" in his dealings with Netanyahu. I do believe the Palestinians can advance their cause next year, but it will take a coordination still unseen by Fatah and Hamas.
RE:
ReplyDelete"a bunch of old, white Israeli-boosters."
Exactly.
This type of mind set will not work for the coming decade, or the new era.
The US/Israel axis with all it's vast destructiveness must break sometime. Like both of you I don't see it on the horizon at present. I wrote to Robert Fisk in Beirut during the Bush Sr. Presidency. I got a personal response which suggested the illegal settlements were the key to the Palestine question and the degree to which it poisoned the West/Middle East arena. He went on to say the US political ethos across the spectrum was polluted by the Israeli lobby and it would be hard to break it. 1991, just short of 20 years ago.
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