The Infamous Ink

As a future policymaker I can tell you what I’ve learned from the Gulf War II and that is: Do not enter a war without a comprehensive strategy that is agreed upon by one’s staffers/cabinet, colleagues and has, at the very least, received a candid nod from other states within the international system.  The fact remains that the U.S. moved in an almost unilateral direction when it invaded Iraq and, since the invasion, has done very little to ensure the safety of Iraqis (regardless of their ethnicity) and has done even less to ensure that social capital and infrastructure systems continue to function.  What must be noted is that Iraq is not West Germany, one of our greatest state building success stories nor is it Nicaragua, one of our worst; Iraq is a beast of an entirely different nature and the need for it to be different than the state building attempts of the 20^th century is imperative to American national security and both global and regional stability.

     It was a bad move to enter Iraq, period; and, now we are stuck there.  The Bush administration got us, the people, into this tangle without a plan (I believe that is called being a “Hawk’) and has bungled the operation every step of the way.  Future policymakers need to remember Iraq (much like Vietnam or WW I) as war that was started over the private interests of only a handful of elites and that that is no reason to provoke a shooting war.  I also think future policymakers need to acknowledge the roll of pure arrogance in this conflict; that is, America thought it was invincible and that it had a moral claim to spreading democracy to the region.  I don’t believe that the Pentagon or the Bush administration thought for one second that the war would last this long or be this bloody; I believe they honestly thought American military technologies and training would allow for a swift and rather bloodless victory.

     Future policymakers also need to remember that the American people are hard to mobilize for international conflict and that they don’t tolerate long drawn out wars in which no end is ever in sight.  War weariness is a very real thing and it is demoralizing to our troops who, in most cases, already do not want to be in a foreign country fighting.  Future policymakers need to learn how to, in addition to constantly reevaluating strategy and ground conditions, act with prudence to ensure that we are at war for the “right” reasons because, as much as we are told by the White House that the current Gulf War is over democratization and stability most Americans and service people are too jaded to believe it, that is, most everyone knows the war is about Western control of Arab oil fields and not liberating the oppressed Iraqi citizenry.

     As much as it is a domestic and policy issue it is also a resource and logistics issue.  American troops, prior to entering the war, were not properly equipped or trained militarily for urban, desert warfare or the ensuing cultural clash.  To prove that it isn’t just rhetoric, the first American troops to Iraq in 2003 were there without body armor, armored vehicles, translators, night vision, real time intelligence, adequate ammunition, munitions protections (i.e. devices to keep sand out of their M-16s), etc… etc… etc… These are facts that the State Department and the DoD admit and our veterans share with a rather “well shucks!” attitude.  Future policymakers should learn from Iraq that wars are not won with through planes and Halliburton-KBR but through control and security on the ground.  You cannot send farm boys from Kansas or inner city youth from Pittsburgh to a foreign country without all of the war-making resources our nation has at its disposal, it is setting them up for failure and the American public for a long, heartbreaking conflict that divides the nation.

     As an aside, I objected to war in the beginning and continue to disagree with the way it is being managed right now.  Five years after the fact America’s service people on the ground in Basra or the devastated south of the country are fighting with a sporadic supply munitions, Kevlar jackets, clean water and food, and good medical care.  In addition to their needs going un-met they are forced to work alongside private contractors who do not answer to anyone and have totally different ROEs.  My friends who are Marines have told me it is the contractors like BlackWater and Aegis that are making their jobs tough because they kill without discretion and do not have to answer to Lieutenants or Sergeants on the ground.  This war has been mismanaged and, I hope, future policymakers realize this and not repeat the mistakes of the previous generation; and that is what blows my mind, Bush and his generation are the Vietnam generation and they have made almost all of the same mistakes the Johnson administration made in Vietnam sans a draft…

On the West Coast there is a moratorium on fishing for salmon because the species has been devastated by overfishing.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/02/BABT10F7PE.DTL&tsp=1

While I feel badly for the fishermen and their families, this is just a taste of the lifestyle changes that will be coming. Due to our neglect of environmental standards and our free-market-fuck-for-all-philosophy, there’s a very good chance that we will be without marine life in our lifetime.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6108414.stm

That’s right. We have gone that far.

Without taking extreme measures that have will have to ignore economic impacts, we will soon face massive shortages of food, water, and fuels at a global level.

Some people will say that we can’t change our way of life, that it will be too costly for businesses or for the consumer. I say who cares? There will not be a planet to do business on if we continue on this path. If we’re not willing to forfeit economic growth to save our home, then we don’t deserve to live on it, anyway.

I really would love to list a full 365 ways to bury your head in the sand, or up your ass, but I don’t have that much time. Instead, I will explore the 3 most common and politically infamous ways of ignoring reality or lacking any grasp on the way things work here in this country.

1. Be a conservative who supports the free market but wants a border fence. These two ideas are about as incompatible as it gets. Opening up the market means opening up borders to anyone who wants to participate in the global economy; and the global economy depends on the cheap labor that immigrants provide, especially here in the States. The same people who talk about big government interfering with hard-working Americans generally use the same tone of disdain when talking about Mexicans who come up here and take away (white) Americans’ jobs. I’m sorry folks, but you just can’t have it both ways. The free market ensures that labor costs and immigration policies will be linked.

Today thousands of immigrants and their families and friends are marching through Chicago and other cities, because they want to participate in this great American experiment of democratic voting and markets. Are you going to deny them that? Well, you can’t anyway. A border fence cannot stop the flow of immigrants into this country anymore than it can stop the thousands of tons of drugs that come across as well. You’re just going to have to accept the notion that you won’t be fulfilling your life-long dream of being a bus-boy. The Mexicans have just as much of a right to be here as the Jews, Asians, Irish, and Germans that came before them. They’re not going away. Just accept it.

2. Believe that the surge is really working. I myself have fallen into this fallacy. But a temporary decrease in spectacular attacks do not prove that the strategy can work. There is no way that the surge can work. And for the inevitable idiot claims that I am somehow disrespecting the troops by saying this, I have no reason to even answer you, but the fact is that the surge is yet another impossible burden that has been placed on our troops. The reason I was opposed to this war from the beginning is because I support the troops who fight it. End of story.

The reason that the surge cannot work is because, just like the entire Iraqi mission, it is a flawed idea to begin with. Democracy cannot be forced upon people with a gun anymore than political reconciliation can be achieved through massive troop buildups. The violence has lessened since the surge began, but that’s not the question here. Without a permanent, comprehensive solution that is worked out by the IRAQIS there will be no end to this war. To expect the American soldier to keep carrying that burden while the corrupt, inept, illegitimate Iraqi government works towards “peace” is the true meaning of not supporting the troops. And for those of you who claim that we just need to give them more time, let me remind you that 5 years ago today, our President stood on the deck of a naval vessel in front of a giant banner that read “Mission Accomplished.” Don’t believe it for a second; then or now.

3. Believing that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, or John Mccain will truly change things. The very fact that these 3 candidates have come as far as they have proves that their interests lie with the wealthy elite, not with the average American. For all his talk of campaign finance reform, John Mccain has taken millions from PAC’s and corporations and hasn’t apologized for it. Barack Obama claims that he has stayed away from this dirty money but it’s only a twisting of terms; the truth is that he has taken far more money from corporate America than any other candidate. Hillary Clinton is about as entrenched in the Washington power structure as you can get, and all her talk about health care is hallow as hell; in 1994 she may have really meant it, but since she has taken millions of dollars from the insurance and pharmaceutical industries.

For hundreds of years people have been running on the platform of change and hope, and very very few of them have actually followed through. In order to affect any real change in America, we need to change the way campaigns are funded, and stop voting for a pack of bloated elephants and jackasses.

Greetings Fellow Students, Members of the Community and Infamous Ink Readers:
This Thursday, May 1^st, people will turn out across the country to demonstrate and march in celebration of International Workers’ Day, to march for immigrant and labor rights, continuing the struggle of progressive movements through out the history of liberal-capitalism to effect economic and social change. Thursday’s marches are the occasion to recognize and enumerate the intolerable social and political situations enabled by that system today and to demand:

universal amnesty, equal rights in the workplace, the right to unionize, the Employee Free Choice Act, fair wages and full employment, the end of the occupation in Iraq, equal access to education, universal healthcare

CALLING ALL STUDENTS:

Leave campus to join fellow progressive labor and community organizations to

WITHHOLD LABOR and MARCH AND RALLY DOWNTOWN

Take part in a movement to change our society!

Join major events in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, San Antonio, Dallas Texas, Atlanta Ga, Phoenix, other cities in the United States and Latin America.

Meet at 11:00 am at Ashland and Ogden, and march together to Union Park for a public rally!

Here are five reasons why students of conscience should take part in Thursday’s mobilizations:

1. Student movements have played a major role in social struggles for democracy and civil rights. Students have a unique place in public discourse, as the young people in national institutions of learning, we have the task and privilege to envision and shape the future of our society.

2. Students come from communities that are effected by today’s political problems; we have friends and family who are serving in Iraq, who are threatened by deportation because they do not have legal documentation to work in this country, who do not have access to healthcare, and who labor without just compensation.

3. Students have a unique role in international political discourse. We inhabit the international institutions of higher education, and we benefit from access to funds to study and travel abroad. We study with fellow students and professors from around the world, and are thus empowered to develop a critical international perspective on political issues in this country.

4. Our ‘workplace,’ the university, is an ideal place of political discourse, we have logistical and practical tools to share information and organize ourselves that people working in other parts of society do not have access to.

5. We need to create an international community of citizens of conscience, willing to stand up and send a message to our political leaders, and the rest of society. We need to show that the American public is demanding comprehensive immigration policy reform that protects the civil and human rights of all workers, both native and foreign, who work in this country and contribute to this nation’s wealth.

The Chicago Students for a Democratic Society stand with other progressive community and labor organizations to march on May 1^st.

Take a stand! Join more than 100 students across Chicago that are already planning to come out.

Please look at the following links for more information:

• [RIGHT HERE] Visit the site of one of the major coalition groups planning the May 1^st march.
• [RIGHT HERE] - Read an article on the state of progressive politics of immigration and labor rights.
• [RIGHT HERE] -Listen to an audio file of a panel discussion with organizers of the May 1^st marches for student organizers.

In solidarity,

Ben Blumburg, Ashleigh Campi, Ian Morrison

Chicago Students for a Democratic Society

The Platypus Affiliated Society

The first time Li Gengxuan saw the dump trucks from the nearby factory pull into his village, he couldn’t believe what happened. Stopping between the cornfields and the primary school playground, the workers dumped buckets of bubbling white liquid onto the ground. Then they turned around and drove right back through the gates of their compound

read more | digg story

Greetings Readers:

Some exciting news! A coalition of community and anti-war organizations have been banded together in order to lobby Chicago’s city council to adopt the “Sanctuary City” resolution being adopted by cities and towns around the country. The version currently being proposed to be presented to the city council can be found on TheInfamousInk.com or by clicking here.

Also, we are looking for more contributors from around the globe to create an internet free-speech co-op of sorts. If you are interested don’t hesitate to send me, the Infamous Administrator, your contributions.

I don’t know who President Bush is kidding with his grandiose promise of a Middle East peace treaty and Palestinian state. I firmly believe that some of his foreign policies are a joke among other nations while the majority sound like imperialistic wet dreams; this newest announcement by the usurper of the title “Leader of the Free World” falls into the latter. That’s right Mr. President, your pledge to see the emergence of a solid Middle East policy and stable Palestinian state is a joke… and I’m not the only one laughing.

Sounding like a joke (or, at the very least, the the regurgitated media snip-its from the Carter administration) aside I suppose I have to commend our government’s verbal commitment to building a Palestinian state “that doesn’t look like swiss cheese”. It might go a long way to stabilizing the Middle Eastern states’ domestic policies in addition to preventing a full blown international incident (i.e. dirty bombs and covert operations) or, worse yet, war with Iran.
Although, they way things are going, it looks like we are about to repeat the infamous Gulf of Tonkin incident, which launched the United States into the Vietnam Conflict.