Malou Innocent
Cato@Liberty

In 2008, the election of President Barack Obama was widely touted as a repudiation of President George W. Bush’s messianic vision that “Our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity—men and women—to reach their full potential.” In the years following America’s failed democratic experiment in Iraq, many Americans began to spurn the Bush era’s presumptuous conviction that “We have the power to make the world we seek.” Liberals in particular roundly rejected the supposed “unyielding belief” that America is called to lead the cause of “rule of law” and “the equal administration of justice” around the world. Such pious declarations are in keeping with Bush’s neo-Wilsonian foreign policy. Does it surprise you then, that all of the quotes above were made by President Obama in his June 2009 speech at Cairo University?

Americans who favor establishing a no-fly zone over Libya hope that such an effort will save lives. What Americans have not learned is exactly what transgressions warrant the use of American force. The primary constitutional function of the U.S. Government is to defend against threats to the national interest. However, because the definition of “interest” has expanded by leaps and bounds, the United States now combats an exhausting proliferation of “threats” even in the absence of discernable enemies. Hence, the proposal of a no-fly zone over Libya is merely the latest iteration of a long-standing grand strategy that implicitly endorses an interventionist foreign policy.

Despite the fact that humanitarian assistance to Libya remains, in principle, morally defensible, the primary question is whether military action is best suited to such a task. As Christopher Coyne, Assistant Professor of Economics at West Virginia University argues, its the “Nirvana Fallacy.”

More »

Stephen Lendman

It's spreading nationally under Republican and Democrat administrations, but Wisconsin and Ohio are key battleground states. Wisconsin especially - ground zero to save organized labor, on the chopping block to be weakened ahead of eliminating it altogether, returning America to 19th century harshness.

Already a shadow of its peak strength, it's been gravely harmed under corrupted union bosses, betraying rank and file members for power and self-enrichment. Short of real change, working Americans face stiff headwinds for their rights fast eroding.

Nonetheless, Wisconsin public employees show heroic stamina, 17 days after protests began, rallying in cold and snow, sleeping on Capitol floors, staying the course for rights too important to lose, facing off against extremist governance wanting them stripped of everything.

Fascism is rooted in Washington under Democrat and Republican rule, America's one-party system with two wings, each as corrupted as the other supporting money and power, not beneficial social change. It's also virulent in Wisconsin, Ohio, and other states. Merriam-Webster calls it:

"a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation(s) and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition."

Mussolini endorsed "the Corporative System (that's) destined to become the civilization of the twentieth century." Hitler in Mein Kampf wrote enthusiastically about the "National Socialist corporative idea."

Others say it incorporates authoritarian rule, revolutionary change, messianic faith, autarky and corporatism. Combined, it represents right-wing extremism, concentrated power, masculinity, force, racial superiority, imperialism, war as a means to spread it, and intolerance of opposition or dissent.

In Wisconsin and Ohio, these elements are deepening under two reactionary Republicans, Scott Walker and John Kasich, neither giving ground in their crusade to destroy unionism and public worker rights in their states.

More »

Stephen Lendman

Raymond A. Davis, center, was charged with murder on Jan. 28.
Hamza Ahmed/Associated Press

Raymond A. Davis, CIA agent, is one of many working covertly with assets infesting virtually all countries worldwide, especially ones vital to America's imperial agenda.

On February 21, New York Times writers Mark Mazzetti, Ashley Parket, Jane Perlez and Eric Schmitt headlined, "American Held in Pakistan Worked with CIA."

Correction - worked for the CIA, conducting intelligence covertly, spying on Pakistan for Washington, the Times saying:

On January 27, he was arrested and detained for shooting two men at a crowded Lahore traffic stop. Washington called it a botched robbery attempt. Pakistan charged him with murder and possession of a concealed, unlicensed gun. Davis said he acted in self-defense. Pakistani authorities knew otherwise when they learned he shot the men 10 times in the back, fled the scene, and was carrying a telescope, a GPS set, bolt cutters, a survival kit, and a long-range radio.

Moreover his gun was a powerful Glock semi-automatic pistol, able to fire 17 - 33 rounds, depending on what magazine is used. It's a weapon professionals prefer, Glock World saying, it's "designed to operate without compromise in extreme conditions."

Pakistani authorities discredited his botched robbery story. Other accounts say the dead men were ISI agents monitoring Davis.

Claiming diplomatic immunity, US officials demand him released. Pakistan wants him tried for murder or exchanged for Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national bogusly incarcerated as a political prisoner.

More »