Reply #210: Ah ... an American flag

[plasticsundance]

:eyes:

Real Independence (sarcasm).

The Iraqi elections were a sham. The Carter Institute refused to even monitor the elections. Inspiring? Hardly. Only for the deluded and those who have plans to incorporate the geopolitical stage more than before, and the sheep that follow anything anecdotal and provides a short cut to thinking will be the ones that use the Iraqi elections as a model and/or inspiration. Oh, and let us not forget Allwai charming past. I believe he's part of the new government:

But his background is, well, 'mixed' shall we say; a former Baathist who, after serving a prison sentence with Saddam in the mid-1960s, helped the future dictator attain power in a 1968 coup. At the time Saddam was not yet president but in the ensuing years he consolidated his power and took the reigns in 1979. In the early 1970s Allawi left for London. While some say he fled the growing purge Saddam had initiated, others believe he was an Iraqi agent tracking down anti-Saddam activists. What is known for sure is that in 1976 he broke all ties with the Iraq government and created the Iraqi National Accord which had the goal of overthrowing Saddam's regime. Two years later he survived an assassination attempt presumed to have been conducted on the orders of Saddam. For the last dozen years or so Allawi and the INA have been on the CIA payroll.

http://www.thisisrumorcontrol.org/node/1569

Let's not forget that paragon of a democratic leader, :eyes: the incomprable Ibrahim al-Jaafari:

JUAN COLE: Well, Jaafari is an old-time Muslim fundamentalist. He will want as much Islamic law to be implemented in Iraq as possible. The Dawa tends to view civil law in Iraq as a British colonial heritage so they want to get rid of it. And he was part of a group that attempted to implement Islamic law, even when there was an American administration. So, they would like, you know, personal status, marriage, divorce, alimony, inheritance, all those things to be governed by Islamic law.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/23/164211

Let us also not forget that the US is building 14 permanent bases in Iraq. We are not leaving, and Iraq isn't getting anything close to a democracy. Already McCain is requesting a permanent presence in Afghanistan.

In news on Afghanistan, Republican Senator John McCain has called for the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. McCain said a permanent presence is needed "Not only because of our appreciation of Afghanistan, but also we believe there will be vital national security interests in this region for a long time."

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/23/164204

The Ukraine is another place where the US and the West sought to enclose upon Russia's interests. Already, the new Ukrainian government has sealed a deal with Georgia about reversing the flow of oil from a particular pipeline, thereby, neglecting the flow coming from Russia. This is to cut Russia's growing oil industry out and provide an oil feed to Europe. A rather not to subtle quid pro quo. However, Ukraine is rather dependent on Russia, so these quid pro quos will only get the West so far.

This alleged new democracy in Ukraine has an alliance with nations in the likes of Uzbekistan. Check out that countries Human Rights record.

http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/uzbekistan.html

It is possible that neither Syria or the US had Harri killed. Harri owned a lot of land, and it could have been a reprisal unrelated to politics. However, things on the geopolitical and geostrategical stage are getting quite interesting.

It seems Russia will get ahead with military sales to Syria. And, as mentioned before, Israel has been continuing invading Lebanon air space. Even though Hezbollah is playing a new role as peace maker, it will not sever ties with Syria completely.

Hezbollah officials acknowledge the difficult times they face as the forces line up against Syria. "Both Syria and Hezbollah are on the defensive," said a Hezbollah spokesman, Mohammed Afif. "We can all agree that things are very hard."
.
UN resolution 1559, which calls for Syria to leave Lebanon, also calls for Hezbollah to disarm. A Syrian pullout would be tantamount to death for the group as it stands. But Hezbollah, which means "Party of God," insists it must continue resistance against Israel.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/hezbollah.html