Confused about Libya? Me too!

And just think what the people in the Ivory Coast must be wondering when they see us involved  in Libya, but not in their country. After several days of air strikes,cruise missile launchings, actual reports of French jets hitting  their  targets, do we have  a clue about the final outcome and even why we are involved? Why are we involved actually is what I have wondered all along + why the President did  not consult with the Congress before beginning whatever this is.

Of course this “adventure”  of ours  stems from what to all intents and purposes is  a Libyan civil war, between forces loyal to Hugo Chavez’ best friend, Col Gaddafi, and those intent on recreating the Egyptian experience of just a few weeks ago. Unlike the events in Egypt, there is a much stronger force intent on maintaining the status quo. So, of all sources to ask us, among others, to intervene, the Arab League called for the imposition of  a no fly zone to prevent the Libyan air force from massacring those opposing the Colonel.

So, American, French and British set out to do just that, ground the Libyan air force. What would be almost amusing, were it so deadly serious, is how quickly the Arab League got more than it expected. Libyan planes were shot down, antiaircraft guns were silenced and some people were killed. I  have no intention of poking fun at all, but how exactly did the Arab League expect a no fly zone to be established?  Just ask the Libyan pilots nicely to stay on the ground?

Anyway, the no fly zone was established and then what ensued? Gaddafi’s forces have continued to fight, NATO nad its allies are bickering and whatever we and our NATO  allies are doing goes on, with no specific end or goal.

And, if you missed it while watching events in Libya, not all that far away in Syria, there are anti government protests, accompanied by a government crackdown. Just ask yourself, at what point do we intervene there? Who will have to ask and how much turmoil will have to ensue and how will the decision be made? Will Congress  have  a voice next time;when there is  a next time? Mr President, the people of the Ivory Coast  are on line one.

Related Articles

• America’s Role in Libya (adailyglimpse.com)
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez: US, allies want Libyan oil [Zahir shamsery] (ecademy.com)

“Nature Abhors a Vaccum”

Or,”who’s in charge here? Alas, this well could describe the situation in the earthquake ravaged Haiti. ( By the way, we know now what caused the earthquake. Hugo Chavez has announced that it was caused by a  new U S weapon. His statement would by ludicrous beyond belief if not for the fact that there are people who will believe it. And others who blame it on George Bush.) Now back  to our original subject.

My son and I were talking briefly about things in Haiti and one or both of us commented on Haiti’s state before the earthquake. They already  had a barely functioning government and crushing poverty and now this devastation caused by a  massive earthquake. Virtually anywhere else in the world would have better positioned to deal with the aftermath than Haiti.

So, what is happening there? The country’ s leadership is either dead or invisible. The United Nations has suffered grave losses in personnel and facilities so who takes charge, provided security, operates the airport etc.? It seems, almost by default, that the U S military has taken charge ( see title quote by Francois Rabelas) of the country in  a sense. And that brings a vast amount of criticism, from numerous sources.

People such as our friend Chavez, good ol Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua, the group Doctors Without Borders, Bolivian leader Evo Morales, various French groups and other humanitarian groups. Our troops are in a no-win position. Someone has to do what they are doing. And no , they are not there to occupy the country. Without some semblance of order the over one billion dollars  that has been pledged so far  will be squandered, stolen or  worse.Our own Time magazine is calling it a” compassionate invasion.” Thanks for nothing fellows.

82nd Airborne troops are already there, probably some Marines and Navy  as well as directed by Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen. So, just one question, maybe two for all these clowns who are protesting. Who do want to handle all this stuff ? Political commentator Janet Daley, writing in the  U K Telegraph called it a case  of ” America is always wrong, part 85.” Reckon the French are just jealous.  She made this telling point. If our interventions are kept to a minimum, they are “callous” and  ” selfish.” If  we accept full responsibility we are engaged in “imperialist occupation.”

For the troops that are there, I wish you God speed. We know you will do your country proud.

A Possible Environmental Solution

As we bask in the warm afterglow of Copenhagen which if you remember featured Obama, Hilary, algore and Hugo Chavez among others. There were some deals made, perhaps even more than we know about. But,all in all, the issue of climate change and what to do about it and whose lifestyle shall change and who is gonna pay for it all; remains an elusive commodity.

When possible solutions are discussed we often hear of cap-and-trade, carbon offsets, green technology,etc. Bet that even algore doesn’t  comprehend it all, And now, I am reading that our pets are a greater danger to our environment than the evil suv.

But, there may be a simple solution that is already in place. China has had  one child policy in place since 1979. Now, a national newspaper in Canada, the Financial Post is advocating that the world should adopt this policy. This is according to an article by one Diane Francis. Among the benefits that would be derived would be  one  billion decrease in world population in just 40 years. What a magnificent idea this would be. The complexities of climate change would fade away. There would be fewer of all the nasty things in the world- cars, suv’s, coal-fired electric plants, etc. To say nothing of the $ that would be saved on schools, roads and so on.

It wouldn’t work, couldn’t be implemented , not legal. Not a big deal. There are ways around all the legal niceties. Besides, since  China pretty much owns us, they could probably provide assistance with the set up. Pass a law, one year lead time and we could set the standard for the world to follow.

And never think that there are probably people out there, perhaps even serving in te current administration, that would be strong advocates of what now seems like an extreme solution.

Snowing in Copenhagen

This is just great, even better than having a white Christmas here at home. As most of us probably know, the great and wonderful climate change/global warming confab is ongoing in Denmark. Gives new meaning to the term “rotten in Denmark ” does it not. Algore is there, Hilary is there and Obama is on the way. Also present is that notable environmentalist Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, a big oil producing country, by the way.

There have been a couple of things that have drawn my attention. One is, of course, the weather. Yesterday, there were 4 inches of snow and counting with  a chance Copenhagen could have its first white Christmas in 14 years. Bloomberg News had a great headline, “Blizzard Dumps Snow on Copenhagen as leaders  Battle Warming.” Gotta love that. Hope algore brought his mittens.

The second item is  more disturbing but really not surprising. Hugo Chavez made  an unscheduled speech yesterday, chock full of ranting and raving and attacks on capitalism as the world’s great evil.( Sounds like Michael – Boycott Connecticut-Moore)  The assembled gathering erupted into applause as Chavez spoke, firmly identifying themselves with Chavez’ praise of socialism and communism. Does this make environmentalists to all be left-leaning? Sounds like it to me. Oh, one more comment from Chavez. I find this to be hilarious although it was not meant to be. He called the world a “dictatorship” and said it should be broken up. Again, loud applause. Funny comment, coming from a dictator, don’t you think?

They Are Not Going Away Quietly

No matter how  much we might desire it to be so, Iran and its nuclear ambitions are not going anywhere. The United Nations speaks of sanctions, The IAEA wants to inspect, Israel gets worried, Gibbs expresses White House concern. All of these things have occurred over the past few days. But they have also  taken place previously. Seems  to be  the same song, with a higher verse number, maybe#25. I read a comment by David Wilbank  that seems to be the best summation of the entire Iranian nuclear stand-off. Wilbank, the British Foreign Secretary, said that “instead of engaging with us Iran choose to provoke and dissemble.” At least, someone recognizes what is happening.

Meanwhile, the outgoing head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei say the their investigation of Iran’s nuclear facilities is at  a dead-end.  Interesting that as his term ends, he becomes  somewhat more blunt than had previously been the case.

What sparked this latest. Today, Iran announced that it plans to build 10 industrial strength uranium enrichment facilities. This latest was apparently ordered by Hugo Chavez’ buddy, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Now pay lose attention to the following two statements. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs  says that time is running out for Iran to address the concerns of the international community, that apparently includes their Russian friends. The newly announced uranium enrichment facilities are going to built inside mountains to enable them to withstand attack(read that from Israel as Netanyahu has hinted at) from  abroad.

So, the stalemate lurches along. So far, there has been an unwillingness to impose any type of sanctions.Just have to believe that at some point, the proverbial bullet must be bitten and a negotiated agreement will have to give  way to some type of imposed one. How  that would work would certainly be a sticky wicket indeed. But given Iran’s recent track record, methinks there will come a time that it must be done.

Where is Mahmoud?

The recently concluded UN session provided a lot time for old friends to meet.probably time for old enemies as well. But maybe it also helped change  some who were sorta good friends into even better friends. Our favorite Venezuelan, Hugo Chavez and the Libyan thug, loon, take your pick, Moammar Khadafy seem to be cozying  up more since the UN meetings.

They have spending time in Chavez neck of the woods lately, in Porlamar, VZ. It was Khadafy’s first trip to Hugoland and all seemed d to go well. They even talked of a NATO  of the South. The two combined to lead a summit between South american countries. Economic agreements were signed, potshots taken at the United States, etc.

Both have things in common, being former military men as well as  current radicals. But wasn’t one member of their group missing?  Where in the world was Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Oh, that’s right. Working on that nuclear reactor thing, peaceful purposes only. Got it.

Iran and Venezuela or Hugo and Mahmoud

Now that is a scary twosome. And they seem to have  a lot in common, but with  some notable differences, but not many. Perhaps the main one is that we have  a  picture of Obama and Chavez smiling and shaking hands. And Chavez has spoken of how much more he likes Chavez than Bush. So far, there are no pictures of Obama and Ahmadinejiad.

Chavez has just completed  a tour of  the Middle East  and is being his usual charming self, accusing Israel of genocide against  the Palestinians and seeking to exterminate them. He also said, while in Paris. that there are things about ur foreign policy he doesn’t like. Among them are the installation of U S bases in neighboring Colombia. He inadvertently provided a potential campaign slogan for the Republicans, by saying that  Obama’s election had brought about hope but not change.

Now, what his  OPEC buddy from Iran with nuclear ambitions that seem to be growing. He just recently used a term unfamiliar to me when he referred to Iran’s “nuclear rights” . A very interesting statement indeed, saying they were “undeniable” and non-negotiable.

The two countries are increasing their ties and Chavez’ recent visit was his eighth to Iran. Between them they used terms such as  staunch ally and  expanding the “anti-imperialist” front in the world. Chavez even hinted  at a  nuclear Venezuela  at some future date.

Perhaps my favorite line was how Chavez described his 11 nation tour. He said that he was seeking  to counter U S influence and build a ” multi-polar ” world. Watch out, North and South Poles, you may have competition.

Could the two be BFF’s ? We shall see. Come to think of it, Chavez looks a bit more polished. Perhaps he provided Ahmadinejad tips in that area as well for when he speaks at the United Nations next week. Cannot wait for that speech. Oh, wanna know where Chavez headed to after Paris,why Russia, of course. Greattt.

It Hasn’t Gone As They Planned

Planning is a good thing in most cases. After all, it has been said that those who fail to plan, plan to fail. I suppose this is a  generally accepted statement. But in the world of sports, perhaps as nowhere else, plans oftentimes do not go  according to plan.

Latest case in point concerns the opening games at the new Yankee Stadium, built right across 161st street from its 86 year old predecessor. Brief history lesson. The Yankees won the first game in the old Stadium  with a fellow named Ruth hitting a home run. For a variety of reasons, the old ballpark became universally known as the house that Ruth Built.

On Thursday, April 16, the Yankees opened their new home with much pomp and circumstance and Yankee heroes from the past, including Yogi Berra. They then proceeded to lose 10-2, awful, terrible, right. They followed this up  with a  win before Black Saturday arrived.

Yes ,it was bad, 22-4 bad with negative records being set for really negative things. Yankees.com did not shut down or fade to black and all of the comments were not negative- amazing, is it not?

The good things about baseball is that there is another game and one loss is only one loss. For Chien-Ming- Wang and rookie Anthony Claggett  it will alas, be a  day to remember for all the wrong reasons. I am certainly glad I don’t get as  vexed as I used to, otherwise the vex meter would have blown a gasket.

Cheer up, all is not bleak in the world. I hear that Obama is making nice with Hugo Chavez, really? Did he plan that?

Only In Obamaville

Yes, folks only here in our sorta still great country could we talk about these things in the same post. Jay Leno, President Obama, Russia and Iran. There is unfortunately an obvious and growing connection between items three and four in our list. One slight aside concerning Russia, however. There are reports about the possibility of  Russian bombers being based in Cuba and Venezuela. That Hugo Chavez is such a kidder, isn’t he?

Anyway, back to our original train of thought. The White House has confirmed that the president will be appearing on  Jay Leno on Thursday of this week, one day after Keith Olbermann( no comment needed) shows up.It is being billed as the first presidential appearance on a talk show since the election. Now, correct me where I’m wrong since I only see excerpts  of the show due to its late hour and my ” old” age. There are usually entertainers; comedians, singers, actors  etc along with a comedy monologue. Now one must ask, why would the President of the United States choose to appear in such a format?

I don’t know for certain but I have a few ideas. The President has been trying to talk down Iran, so to speak, from proceeding along its merry, nuclear pathway. He even resorted to sending a letter to Russia, asking them to intervene on our behalf. Response from Moscow, Nyet, nyet and double nyet. Or as we might put it, you have got to be kidding. So, here is political genius at work. Obama goes on Leno and pitches his plan to the Iranians( you know that Iranian President  Ahmadinejad  watches Leno) with the able assistance of the jut-jawed humorist. Brilliant, the Iranians will probably call in during the show, eager to agree.hey, this makes at least as much sense as offering to give up American military bases in central Europe if Russia would help( yes he did do that) mediate.

And for icing on the proverbial yellow cake, there are foreign policy “experts”  and journalists who wouldn’t worry too much about Iran getting the bomb.

Shalom, my friends, shalom.