Category Archives: U.S.

International, U.S.

Obama threatens U.K. against leaving Afghanistan

British military commanders have confirmed that they have been given “blunt warning” from U.S. commanders.  The “warning”, call it a threat, is against the United Kingdom’s planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.

British military leaders say the United States has actually told them to ignore any orders from their U.K. government to withdraw from Afghanistan.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron wants to start drawing down U.K. troops in Afghanistan, starting in July 2011.  British media are reporting that U.S. generals have warned their British counterparts not to follow those orders.  This is another sign that the United States has no intentions of leaving Afghanistan.

One report says the British were told that they could not count on the U.S. to “bail them out” if they began withdrawing their troops.  Another report says British commanders in Afghanistan were told they needed to stay until at least 2014.

President Barak Obama is the Commander in Chief of the U.S. military.  If “his” officers are threatening the British it must be at his command.

International, U.S.

John Kerry says Pakistan will return stealth copter tail rotor

U.S. Senator John Kerry says that he’s worked out differences between Pakistan and the United States.  As a sign he says Pakistan will return the tail rotor of the downed stealth helicopter used in the Osama bin Laden raid.

Kerry also says Pakistan no longer wants an official apology from the U.S.  Kerry’s announcements might be too late for the U.S. government, as a Senate panel is deciding if Pakistan is still an ally of the U.S. or not.

 

International, U.S.

NATO helicopters attack Pakistan

Pakistan is reporting that two NATO helicopters attacked a Pakistani security checkpoint in North Waziristan.  Also, a U.S. drone attack killed 12 people in the same region.

No response so far from NATO forces on why they attacked a security checkpoint.  This is not the first time; last year U.S. helicopters did the same thing, killing two Pakistani soldiers.

These attacks come as U.S. Senator John Kerry is in Pakistan, to try an reconcile the May 1/2 Osama bin Laden operation with Pakistani officials.

Opinion, U.S.

U.S. government now using employee retirement money to pay debts

“…timely action to increase the debt limit in order to protect the full faith and credit of the United States and avoid catastrophic economic consequences for citizens.”-Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, will now use government employee retirement money to pay U.S. government debts.  He pointed out that he’s not the first Treasury Secretary to do so.

Even with using retirement money, it’s estimated the government will run out of debt payment options within 11 weeks.  The Federal government has spent its way to the legal debt limit of $14.3 trillion.

What Geithner, and Ben Bernanke of the Federal Reserve (a private bank), want is for Congress to raise the debt limit.  But, that would only mean that our elected officials could get us even deeper in the hole.

The problem is that our Federal government is running solely on loans.  Geithner wants to be able to keep borrowing money.  There is a fear that no matter how drastic government spending cuts are, they might not be enough.   This is a really really really bad sign.

The Treasury Department has already stopped issuing state and local governments special securities to manage their debts.  Where does that leave them?

History shows that Congress loves to raise its debt limit, so it can spend more of YOUR money, and it’s partly the cause of our current situation.  Some members of Congress say it’s time to pay the piper.

International, U.S.

Iraq announces military union with Iran

Could this be the real reason the U.S. doesn’t want to leave Iraq?  Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki made it clear that Iraq and Iran are coming together to act as a regional power.

On May 16, Maliki told Iranian media that Iraq and Iran will expand military, as well as economic, cooperation.  He said the ongoing situation in the Middle East (caused by Western forces) demands that the ancient powers of Iraq and Iran must work together to create stability in the Middle East.

International, U.S.

MI-6 admits the war in Iraq was about Oil for the British Empire, everything else is just lies, lies, lies

“The overall plan would need to be like an onion, each layer concealing the one below.”-Richard Dearlove, former SIS (MI-6) chief

When it comes to the long history of Iraq and the British Empire it’s always been about the oil.

The United Kingdom’s Secret Intelligence Service (aka MI-6, aka SIS-4) has revealed documents that show that the British interest in the invasion of Iraq was all about controlling the oil.

The report appears in the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail.  SIS officers and the Blair administration discussed ways to “new security in oil supplies” by invading Iraq.  The British Empire first took over Iraq after World War 1, for the purpose of surrounding Russia in what’s called the Great Game (which many think is still going on), and mainly to develop Iraq’s oil fields.  Invading Iraq in the 21st century gave the U.K. another chance at controlling that oil.

The SIS documents also show that Richard Dearlove, then boss of the intelligence service, was concerned about the legality of the invasion. He wanted the input of “Government law officers to provide assurances of legality (there has been a serious problem here).”

If you need more proof that the U.K. was in the Iraq invasion for the oil, just compare how many oil contracts went to U.S. companies, to how many went to British companies.

 

International, U.S.

Chinese upset over Hillary Clinton’s “fools errand” comment

“It is inappropriate for anyone to relate or compare China to some west Asian and north African nations facing turmoil, and any attempt to direct the Middle East turmoil to China and change the development path chosen by the Chinese people will be futile.”-Jiang Yu, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman

This comment was in response to an interview of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  An online poll in China showed that 86% of Chinese respondents felt Clinton had insulted China.

In an exclusive interview with The Atlantic, Hillary Clinton said China’s policies are doomed to fail, she also said: “They’re worried, and they are trying to stop history, which is a fool’s errand. They cannot do it. But they’re going to hold it off as long as possible.” The “history” Clinton says China is trying to stop is the U.S. foreign policy of expansionism.  She may not know it, but her statement gives away the true attitude of U.S. leaders towards China.

What this is, is an escalation in the war of words between China and the U.S.  It’s also interesting that these statements were made before (by Clinton) and right after (by the Chinese) the U.S. and China signed an agreement to work together.

The Chinese are probably regretting signing the agreement, now that they know the true attitude of U.S. officials.