Will Barack Obama’s foreign policy in Egypt and Libya help him or hurt him? I don’t want to defend Hosni Mubarak here, but he was a friend to the west, now it appears that extreme religious elements are taking over the country. With Libya, Gaddafi was becoming more friendly towards
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Peace, order and good government, eh?: Sorry but I’m not feeling the love
Stephen Harper called today “a day of honour.” And when Governor-General David Johnston joined with him in paying tribute to the Canadian Forces who served in the recent campaign in Libya, he said the following as quoted in the Globe and Mail with my emphasis added. “On behalf of all
Continue readingRed Tory v.3.0.3: Herman Cain: On Libya
Talking to the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal newspaper, Herman Cain demonstrates his foreign policy acumen with respect to the recent conflict in Libya… “Um, I do not agree with the way [Obama] handled it for the following … Continue reading →
Continue readingCanadian Progressive World: Occupy Ottawa’s Little Remembrance Day Dilemma
The Occupy Ottawa Movement faces a little moral dilemma on Remembrance Day tomorrow: to protest or not to protest? Remembrance Day is a solemn day for Commonwealth countries. A day to remember members of the …Read More
Continue readingLeDaro: Libyan Intervention and Oil
David Cameron, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy are swimming in the Libyan oil. Stephen Harper just obeys whatever Uncle Sam asks him to do.
Continue readingLeDaro: Libya: The Real Reason for Intervention
Black Gold. ”Western security, construction and infrastructure companies that see profit-making opportunities receding in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned their sights on Libya…….. Entrepreneurs are abuzz about the business potential of a country…
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Our moral imperative
Seumas Milne in the Guardian: Amnesty International has now produced compendious evidence of mass abduction and detention, beating and routine torture, killings and atrocities by the rebel militias Britain, France and the US have backed for the last eight months – supposedly to stop exactly those kind of crimes being committed by the Gaddafi regime. Throughout that time African migrants and black Libyans have been subject to a relentless racist campaign of mass detention, lynchings and atrocities on the usually unfounded basis that they have been loyalist mercenaries. Such attacks continue, says Bouckaert, who witnessed militias from Misrata this week burning homes in Tawerga so that the town’s predominantly black population – accused of backing Gaddafi – will be unable to return. All the while, Nato leaders and cheerleading media have turned a blind eye to such horrors as they boast of a triumph of freedom and murmur about the need for restraint. But it is now absolutely clear that, if the purpose of western intervention in Libya’s civil war was to "protect civilians" and save lives, it has been a catastrophic failure. … What is now known, however, is that while the death toll in Libya when Nato intervened…
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Today in WTF? moments
With Libyan liberation, a political victory for Harper Stephen Harper’s first war victory was clinched in a few sudden hours when Moammar Gadhafi was captured and killed and his last bastion of Sirte fell. Excuse me? The countries in the most powerful military alliance on the planet combined forces to defeat a single, relatively minor power and this is a war victory for Stephen Harper? Wow. Just…wow. Next on the list is to figure out how to give Harper credit for winning the War of 1812. But at least we’ve dropped any pretense that it was strictly about enforcing a no-fly zone. It was a war declared by Stephen Harper. I wonder how he managed to get the Americans involved. Or to get the French to be the first to attack so it wouldn’t look like we were trying to hog all the glory….
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Warning shots
In case you haven’t heard yet Libya’s former dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed earlier today. It turns out that he had been hiding in his home town of Sirte. With the rebel assault on that city assured of victory, he tried to make a break for it. This is from a BBC report: French Defence Minister Gerard Longuet said French jets had fired warning shots to halt a convoy carrying Col Gaddafi as it tried to flee Sirte. He said Libyan fighters had then descended and taken the colonel. Now let’s go to the Guardian:…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Muammar Ain’t No Mar
Former, as in “dead”, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi is no more. Libyan authorities report the man who ruled their country for 42-years was shot and killed today.How he died isn’t clear. Some reports claim he was making a break…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Externalizing the costs of war in Somalia
Perhaps the epitome of a war that externalizes costs out of sight of the average voter is one where the voter is unaware a war is even going on. Such is the case in Somalia, where most Americans might list Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya as wars the US is…
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Libya’s Missing Missiles
The good news is that the new guys in Libya have accounted for about 15,000 SA-7 missiles from Gaddafi’s arsenal. The bad news is that Gaddafi was known to have 20,000 of the damned things and no one seems to have any idea where the missing…
Continue readingPeace, order and good government, eh?: Our moral imperative revisited
Libya: exodus from Sirte as thousands flee rebel offensive Plumes of smoke rose over the city from the barrages of heavy Grad rocket fire. As the tanks rolled forward, civilian cars streamed in the opposite direction. "They are bombing us and women and children are dying," said an elderly woman, wrapping her shroud to hide her face. Over three thousand men, women and children have fled the besieged city in the last three days. Risking their lives to cross the front lines in search of refuge, they described grim and bloody conditions inside the town. One more time: if the priority was the protection of civilians then NATO allies would long ago have insisted on a ceasefire on both sides and attempted to facilitate a political solution. Instead, NATO countries determined which group of Libyans we wanted to control Libya and provided them with air support, artillery support, weapons, training and intelligence. We encouraged them to continue hostilities and an operation that was only going to last for a few days or a few weeks is still going six months later. We have blood on our hands here. The UN itself is completely compromised on this and NATO is just…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: September 26, 2011
Monday’s session in the House of Commons was dominated by the debate over another military extension in Libya. The Big IssueOnce again, the Cons were able to win a vote for perpetual military action with the support of the Libs and Bloc. But it wasn’t …
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Parliament In Review: September 23, 2011
Friday’s session in the House of Commons saw a few themes discussed which figure to be hot topics of discussion for the next little while – with the continued focus on the Cons’ anti-refugee bill partially giving way to economic and foreign-policy issu…
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Nuclear weapons and motivations for Libya and Iran
Perhaps one of the greatest triumphs of the non-proliferation movement was the 2003 decision by Colonel Qaddafi of Libya to entirely abandon his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons program, throwing open the doors to inspectors and allowing the pr…
Continue readingExcited Delirium: Libya: What Was Canada’s Role In This Crime?
Libya. What a mess we’ve made.
Continue readingDeSmogBlog: Seamless Transition: Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell Moves to BP America
Geoff Morell.jpg
Last week, BP America hired former Department of Defense spokesman, Geoff Morrell, as its head of communications.
The move sheds light on the central tenet of American natio…
LeDaro: Amnesty International: Rebels also carried out torture and killings
“Rebels as well as pro-Gaddafi forces have perpetrated killings, torture and other abuses during the uprising against the Libyan regime, say human rights investigators.” The GuardianSo when Harper and other NATO nations intervened in Libya they sai…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
This and that to end your week…- Have no fear, members of the far right: of course the Harper Cons don’t mean it when they sign an environmental protection agreement. Or pretend to disagree with foreign dictators. Or claim they didn’t pressure the ci…
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