When did the American empire start to decline?

When did the American empire start to decline? By Stephen M. Walt

"But no strategy is so bad that somebody else can't make it worse. And that is precisely what George W. Bush did after 9/11. Under the influence of neoconservatives who had opposed dual containment because they thought it didn't go far enough, Bush adopted a new strategy of "regional transformation." Instead of preserving a regional balance of power, or containing Iraq and Iran simultaneously, the United States was now going to use its military power to topple regimes across the Middle East and turn those countries into pro-American democracies. This was social engineering on a scale never seen before. The American public and the Congress were unenthusiastic, if not suspicious, about this grand enterprise, which forced the Bush administration to wage a massive deception campaign to get them on board for what was supposed to be the first step in this wildly ambitious scheme. The chicanery worked, and the United States launched its unnecessary war on Iraq in March 2003. "

Bill

Rick Perry Abuses His Office for Israel

Rick Perry Abuses His Office for Israel by Philip Giraldi

This article tears into Rick Perry (gov of Texas).

It ends with:

"I have to question how a man of so little moral character as Rick Perry gets to be governor of a large state in the first place, but that is perhaps a discussion for another place and another time. If the people of Texas were seriously concerned about the Constitution and civil liberties, they would remove him from office for his attempt to criminalize the actions of a group of innocent citizens. When a government believes itself to be empowered to go after its own people on trumped-up charges, watch out. When it does so on behalf of a foreign government, all kinds of warning flags should be going up. That no one in the media or punditry seems to care is a tribute to the grip that Israel and its friends have over politics in the United States. And that is precisely why I and other contributors to Antiwar.com keep raising the issue of Israel. Its tight embrace and the policies that it forces on the sheep in Washington are central to what is wrong with us as a nation. Until we loosen that hold, we will continue to stumble and fall, and we will have the presidents that we deserve, possibly including Rick Perry."


From reader responses:

- "What Motivated the 9/11 Hijackers? See testimony most didn't!:
http://tinyurl.com/911motivation "

- "One has to read former Republican Congressman Paul Findley's 'They Dare to Speak Out' (the third edition) book as well. And 'The Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy' by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt (scroll down to the link for the Dutch documentarty at: http://tinyurl.com/mearsheimer)"

Bill

War and Debt

War and Debt By MICHAEL HUDSON

"The present rise in U.S. Treasury debt results from two forms of warfare. First is the overtly military Oil War in the Near East, from Iraq to Afghanistan (Pipelinistan) to oil-rich Libya. These adventures will end up costing between $3 and $5 trillion. Second and even more expensive is the more covert yet more costly economic war of Wall Street against the rest of the economy, demanding that losses by banks and financial institutions be passed onto the government balance sheet (“taxpayers”). The bailouts and “free lunch” for Wall Street – by no coincidence, Congress’s number one political campaign contributor – cost $13 trillion."

Imperial Psychosis: We Pour Trillions into Empire While Gutting Programs Americans Depend On By Tom Engelhardt

"Put another way, for months Americans have been focused on raising that debt ceiling, as onscreen countdown clocks ticked away to disaster. In the process, few have asked the obvious question: Isn’t it time to lower America’s war ceiling?"

Meet the Right-Wing Hatemongers Who Inspired the Norway Killer By Max Blumenthal

In case you're wondering where Anders Hans Breivik got his insane ideas.


Bill

Ron Paul: "We Will Default Because The Debt Is Unsustainable"

Ron Paul: "We Will Default Because The Debt Is Unsustainable"

If you care about America at all, you'll really want to hear Ron Paul speak for 5 minutes about the national debt; what they are doing about it, and what they should be doing about it.


Bill

Leviathan’s Lies

Leviathan’s Lies By James Bovard

Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics, John J. Mearsheimer, Oxford University Press, 160 pages

"This new book by John Mearsheimer, coauthor of the courageous masterpiece The Israel Lobby, is a step toward remedying the academy and media’s disregard of political perfidy. Mearsheimer “concentrates on lies that are told in the service of the national interest.

...

The Washington Post and the New York Times made it easy for Bush to con the nation into an unnecessary war against Arabs."

Bill

By 2021 The US Government Will Be Paying 1.1 Trillion In Interest Alone

Debt Ceiling: By 2021 The US Government Will Be Paying 1.1 Trillion In Interest Alone By mc.murphy

"Raise the Debt Ceiling? Just like that? No ending of wars, downsizing Pentagon, no nationalizing of TBTF banks and corporations, no Tobin Tax, no 60% tax on capital gains; just the sucking sound of jobs moving East and South, the dismantling of the social safety net, and privatization of the commons towards a tollbooth economy for the top1%. Brilliant!"

Staggering Price Tag for Iraq, Afghanistan Wars CAS prof estimates U.S. cost at $4 trillion By Susan Seligson


Bill

We live in very frightening times

Tonight Tens Of Thousands Of Formerly Middle Class Americans Will Be Sleeping In Their Cars by The Economic Collapse

"We live in very frightening times.

Poverty is absolutely exploding in America. The number of Americans that are going to food pantries and soup kitchens has increased by 46% since 2006. There are 44 million Americans on food stamps. If it was not for measures like these, the streets of America would be filled with destitute people.

Things are tough out there and they are about to get tougher.

At the beginning of next year, the extended unemployment benefits that have been helping the unemployed during this economic downturn will expire. Up to now, many unemployed Americans have been able to enjoy up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Now that is coming to an end."

New Brown University Report Pegs The Real Cost Of Current Wars At $4 Trillion

It is absolutely amazing that the cause and effect of our economic plight are so disconnected.


Bill