Archive for the Foreign Policy Category

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The Terror In The Skies (August 14, 2006)

Posted in Bush, Foreign Policy on August 14, 2006 by e-commentary.org

Bush has spent much of his time in office flying around the world in Air Force One above and beyond the cares of the world.  Those who must fly must deal with the consequences and fallout of the worst foreign policy blunders in American history.    

The Arab world is united in their hatred of Bush; the non-Arab world is disunited except in their hatred of Bush.  All the hatred and anger is coming home to fester.  The lack of terrorist activities over the last five years is surprising.  However, the enemy is patient in planning its attacks against an impatient people.  A gin and tonic is today’s Molotov cocktail.  Practice safe flying, we are now directed, don’t use condiments on board.  Ketchup in a plastic container is the new weapon of mess destruction.  It’s not just for putting under car tires anymore.  Passengers cannot carry contact lens solution because Bush cannot see clearly.  The enemy has enough chutzpah to keep attacking the one transportation sector–aviation–that has attracted the most security screening resources.  The next likely move is against the ports.    

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The Housing Anti-Terrorist Act 0f 2006 (HAT Act) (May 8, 2006)

Posted in Foreign Policy, Housing on May 8, 2006 by e-commentary.org

The housing stock for the next half century is under construction today.  Americans are building Taj Mahals they will not be able to own or heat or cool.  Today’s McMansions are typically constructed with 2 inch by 4 inch wood studs rather than 2 inch by 6 inch wood studs.  A 2 by 4 house is insulated with R-11 insulation whereas a 2 by 6 house is insulated with much warmer R-19 insulation.  The higher the R value, the greater the insulation value.  In addition, a 2 by 6 house with a generous nailing pattern is more likely to resist earthquakes which are predicted to surface in unexpected places in the near future.

The country is acquiring much of its energy from unfriendly regimes.  We as a country must reduce the funding of our enemies.  Proper house construction practices should be part of the war on terrorism.  The market should be the starting point of every economic debate.  The market is failing.  Government involvement, the ending point of every economic debate, is necessary.  In the past, housing construction companies were local enterprises.  National companies such as Pulte Homes and Tull Brothers are among the larger builders.  They should be enlisted in this campaign.  One builder may be reluctant to take the lead because there is an added cost with benefits that may not be immediately apparent to the consumer.  All of the builders may be willing to follow one set practice.  This single simple practice would produce tremendous positive long term consequences for the country.       

[Next consideration – Converting cargo containers into cottages] 

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The “Bush Doctrine” in Foreign Policy (March 27, 2006)

Posted in Bush, Foreign Policy on March 27, 2006 by e-commentary.org

Bush’s recent “National Security Report” discusses the “pre-emptive war strategy” which allows him to engage in wars of “self-offense.”  Parsed out, there are two precepts to the “Bush Doctrine” in foreign policy:

1)      I will invade a country based on my whims, demons, anxieties, and insecurities if someone looks at me wrong whether military action promotes the security and well-being of America or not.  I will invade based on lies and distortions that I will repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat.  I will spill any blood and spend any bullion in the name of my invasion without regard to the consequences.

2)      I will not invade a country that possesses nuclear weapons.

The Bush doctrine is counter-productive and ultimately suicidal.  His avowed war aims compel other countries to commit all of their resources to the development of nuclear weapons.  North Korea is not a target because it has some nascent and is developing more nuclear weapons.  Iran is a target because it does not yet have nuclear weapons.  (Iran is not helping its case with the aggressive rhetoric.)  Bush’s repudiation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty removes some legal limits on nuclear proliferation.  The Bush Doctrine is a Nuclear Proliferation Act. 

Reagan understood the insanity of a nuclear war.  Bush is committed to starting one. 

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Dubai Ports World: The Ship Storm (March 13, 2006)

Posted in Economics, Foreign Policy, Market Solutions on March 13, 2006 by e-commentary.org

America and its allies must encourage other countries, particularly Arab countries, to embrace capitalism and participate in the world economy.  The most competitive economic player, Dubai Ports World, was set to take over terminal operations at some of America’s busiest ports.  Bush could have done a more nuanced job anticipating the reaction and introducing the development to the American people.  The reaction of many Americans to the sale was unfortunate but not surprising.  Leaders, however, should lead, not pander.  The one time in recent memory when the Democrats and Republicans in Congress stood up to Bush was the one time when they should have stood tall with him.  Two of the 9/11 terrorists appear to have had connections to Dubai.  There is less chance of an attack on an American port by someone from Dubai if someone from Dubai is assisting in operating it.  Free trade and economic interdependence promote peace.  America made an egregious mistake and forfeited a promising opportunity to build an economic link to the Arab world.  America committed a self-inflicted terrorist act by burning a bridge it should have built.

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Mutual Assured Incompetence – The Missile Defense Hoax (March 7, 2005)

Posted in Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq, Military, North Korea on March 7, 2005 by e-commentary.org

The star wars missile defense system is designed to fight a war that we actually won.  Beat CCCP; we did.  Former President Carter’s grain embargo and decades of internal decline doomed the former Soviet Union.  In 1989 when the [Berlin] wall came tumbling down and exposed the border and then in 1991 when the center of the “evil empire” imploded, defense policy needed to change.  The missile defense system assumes there is a threat from a source that is capable of reaching the United States with a projectile.  Any missile launched from overseas likely would land in the ocean, if it got off the ground.  Any missile sent by the U.S. in response likely would land square in the center of an American town square, if it got off the ground.  Mutual Assured Incompetence.  The savior of humanity.

The real threat is from individuals and small groups able to access a wealth of readily available material and hand deliver a weapon in a suitcase or box to the target while operating under the national security radar.  Those in power make little effort to secure that dangerous material or combat the obvious and effective delivery methods.

On February 23, our enlightened friends to the north opted out of the insanity.  Canada rejected the growing “weaponization of space.”  Rational individuals agree that Iran and North Korea should not have access to Fourth of July fireworks or water balloons.  However, these countries have been forced in part to pursue a nuclear option because the “Bush Doctrine” only respects a foreign country’s sovereignty if it is a nuclear power.  Placing complete faith in an expensive boondoggle missile defense system designed to confront an unlikely threat while completely disregarding the present and real danger is self-defeating and self-destructive.  McCain, front and center.  Duty calls.

[When the country is forced to establish a Crisis Budget (CB), this program will be abandoned.]

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Bush: “Torture our kids, s’il vous plait” (January 31, 2005)

Posted in Foreign Policy, Torture on January 31, 2005 by e-commentary.org

For many years, concerned men and women on the planet have sought to impose some limits on the conduct of war and the treatment of prisoners of war.  A combatant is to be rendered hors de combat and removed from the battlefield, not wantonly slaughtered or ritualistically dismembered.  The golden rule – do onto others as you would like them to do onto your kids – was exalted.  The hope has been that a scared, bewildered and blindfolded American kid would find that someone in the cell knows at least one Western word – “Geneva” – and perhaps entertains some vague anxiety that following the directions of his superiors will not be a defense if the other side wins.  America’s compliance with international law on a good day is incidental because of the settled practice that only O3s (captains) and lesser ranking members of the U.S. military are ever held accountable for atrocities under any circumstances.  Even though the senior officers (O4s and up) of the U.S. military are exempt from prosecution, some of them are uneasy that the restraints have been removed.  The enlightened of the world have hoped that a few individuals would back off on a few occasions and not reach for the blowtorch and the battery cables.

The Bush regime decided to shift from the “civil/criminal law” paradigm to a “war” paradigm in response to every local, state, national and/or international challenge.  The “war” paradigm, however, still has rules that are in our interest.  By repudiating the rules, Bush has provided carte blanche to individuals who were admittedly not eager to embrace “Western rules.”  When the next 18 year old who only wanted to score some coin for the nursing degree is splayed out on the table, the captors will remember at least one Western word – “George.”  He says that anything goes.  In this craven new world created by Bush and his boys, it is a defense to say that the Americans propounded the rules for the treatment of the American prisoners.  America loses.  The final outcome now depends on who wins the struggle.

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