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POPSWaving Goodbye to (U.S.) Hegemony: About Damn Time! From the article: "It is 2016, and the Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Barack Obama administration is nearing the end of its second term. America has pulled out of Iraq but has about 20,000 troops in the independent state of Kurdistan, as well as warships anchored at Bahrain and an Air Force presence in Qatar. Afghanistan is stable; Iran is nuclear. China has absorbed Taiwan and is steadily increasing its naval presence around the Pacific Rim and, from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea. The European Union has expanded to well over 30 members and has secure oil and gas flows from North Africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea, as well as substantial nuclear energy. America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline."
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POPSROE Podcast #31: On Torture A podcast about rendition and torture. With video, including Keith Olberamann excellent special comment on torture and the Bush administration.
4
POPSA Guide for the Perplexed: The Wages of Empire Excellent coverage of the books out there tackling this thorny subject. The best comes from in the last paragraph: "There is, I believe, only one solution to the crisis we face. The American people must make the decision to dismantle both the empire that has been created in their name and the huge, still growing military establishment that undergirds it. It is a task at least comparable to that undertaken by the British government when, after World War II, it liquidated the British Empire. By doing so, Britain avoided the fate of the Roman Republic -- becoming a domestic tyranny and losing its democracy, as would have been required if it had continued to try to dominate much of the world by force. To take up these subjects, however, moves the discussion into largely unexplored territory. For now, Holmes has done a wonderful job of clearing the underbrush and preparing the way for the public to address this more or less taboo subject."
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POPSThe Wages of Empire: France Dirty Secret War in Central Afirca From the article: "In just four years, starting in 1990, the French buffed up the Hutu nationalist military forces in Rwanda from 10,000 to more than 40,000. The moderate forces within Rwanda began desperately trying to broker a power-sharing agreement between the two sides, "And the French government deliberately destroyed any attempt at a peace deal," Mounie says. Then the hacking up of Tutsi men, women and children began. Mitterrand extended bigger loans to the Hutus, which they used to buy more weapons and ammunition. He publicly mocked anyone who talked about a Hutu-led genocide."
5
POPS Marine tells of order to execute Haditha women and children "After leaving the room Mendoza told Tatum what he had found. "I told him there were women and kids inside there. He said 'Well, shoot them,'" Mendoza told prosecutor Lieutenant Colonel Sean Sullivan. "And what did you say to him?" Sullivan asked. "I said 'But they're just women and children.' He didn't say nothing." Mendoza said he returned to a position at the front of the house and heard a door open behind him followed by a loud noise. Returning later that afternoon to retrieve bodies, Mendoza said he found a room full of corpses."
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POPSThe Next Republican President will be worse than the last! There is an obvious reason not to say "Islamic terror," which stupidly suggests that terror is indeed Islamic, as the ideologists of al-Qaida would argue. There is also an obvious reason to say that same phrase -- if you believe that we are careening toward a war of civilizations and your aim is to inflame.
3
POPSU.S. Is Seen in Iraq Until at Least ’09 Reader Beware: This is a Michael Gordon piece, but at least we know he is a good stenographer for the White House and the Pentagon, so my guess this is as accurate as he can be. The only reason COBRA II was such a good book is because Gen. Trainor kept him honest.