Category Archives: Foreign Policy

Flying Sorties For Peace (The Latest From Libya)

Democracy, Foreign Policy, Islam, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim, Middle East, Neoconservatism, War

Make no mistake, and Obama’s denials notwithstanding, “Rebels fighting their way towards the Libyan capital” are “backed by Nato aircraft [ostensibly enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians from Col Gaddafi’s forces.”]

NATO=The US. And the US being the US (a warrior nation); it is not pressing for peace talks, even though Libyan officials have “urged the rebels to open talks. ‘If you want peace, we are ready,’ Information Minister Moussa Ibrahim has said.

Rather than encourage a peaceful solution to the Libyan conflict from which democracy (as bad as that is) is unlikely to spring, our English allies—A UK Foreign Office spokesman, in particular, who appears to have responded on behalf of the oh-so independent Libyan Rebels—promised that “Nato action will continue … Our overriding priority has always been to protect Libyan civilians and to enable them to choose their own future.”

By flying sorties over their homes?

In July, Mrs Clinton, a member of the President’s Womb Warrior team, announced that, “Until an interim authority is in place, the United States will recognise the TNC [Transitional National Council] as the legitimate governing authority for Libya, and we will deal with it on that basis. … The United States views the Gaddafi regime as no longer having any legitimate authority in Libya,” Mrs Clinton had said.

As the BBC observed, by recognizing the Libyan opposition as the country’s “legitimate governing authority,” the US ensured that “billions of dollars of Libyan assets frozen in US banks could be released to the rebels.”

Have you ever wondered to whom this US confiscated (oops, “frozen”) property belonged in the first place? One loses track of all the “good” things America does in the name of freedom.

UPDATED: Republikeynesians Pretend They’re Not Sidelining Paul

Barack Obama, Debt, Democrats, Economy, Elections, Federal Reserve Bank, Foreign Policy, Israel, Republicans, Ron Paul

Megyn Kelly interviewed Ron Paul about the snubbing he has received from the “mainstream media.” “RepubliKeynesians” have been front-and-center in a concerted attempt to ignore Ron Paul’s showing in the 2011 Iowa Straw Poll. One could say that Paul jostled with Mrs. Bachmann for first place, given the 152 votes that separated the two.

Paul sounded strong in the Kelly clip, which has not come online yet. (And he reiterated these Israel-related points, which was gratifying, of course.)

Here is the often dazzlingly brilliant Jon Stewart “savaging the media for treating Paul like he’s the ‘thirteenth floor in a hotel.'” (Via the NYT)

UPDATE (Aug. 17): Jon Stewart is often brilliant, but he is no classical liberal. He’s an economic ignoramus. Classical liberalism is first and foremost about the freedom to make a living. Stewart knows squat about such freedoms.

Be Afraid: The Proof is in the Putin

America, Debt, Economy, Federal Reserve Bank, Foreign Policy, Government

The following is an excerpt from “Be Afraid: The Proof is in the Putin,” my new, WND.COM column:

“Left and right, the cable commentariat is currently engaged in a cut-and-thrust over the use of strong words in politics. In particular, does ‘terrorism’ describe the initial reluctance of some tea partiers to support the US government’s set-in stone spending?

Lost in this silly squabble is the following: ‘the second coming of the Republican revolution,’ as Politico.com dubbed the tea party contingent on Capitol Hill, failed to defuse the threat of the debt. Only 28 tea-party freshmen voted against the ballyhooed “Budget Control Act Amendment.”

Listen to the words of one wily politician whose country’s central bank holds almost 40 percent of dollars as reserve currency. Vladimir Putin’s response to the debt compromise was pitch-perfect, given the stakes stateside and beyond. This via RT and Press TV, respectively:

‘The current deal struck by US lawmakers will not solve the underlying issues. This colossal debt, $14 trillion or more, means that the country has been living on credit, which is really bad for one of the world’s leading economies. They live beyond their means, and put a part of their burden on the entire world’s economy. … The country is … shifting the weight of responsibility on other countries and in a way acting as a parasite.’

Having impressed themselves no end, the lawmakers who came up with the “Budget Control Act Amendment” don’t impress Putin much.

So what was the deceptive deal that was endorsed by 59 of the already stale tea-party freshmen, and got enthusiastic whoops from many among mainstream media’s menagerie of morons? …”

The complete column is “Be Afraid: The Proof is in the Putin.”

If you are interested in syndicating my weekly, WND column, kindly email me for details at ilana@ilanamercer.com. “Return to Reason“ is WorldNetDaily’s longest standing, exclusive libertarian column.

My new book, “Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa,” is available from Amazon.

Raise awareness of the issues covered in depth and detail in the book by posting your reviews to Amazon. And you need not have have purchased the book from Amazon to review it on the site.

Borrowing From … Brazil

America, Debt, Economy, Foreign Policy, Free Markets, Inflation, Left-Liberalism And Progressivisim

Did you know that Brazil “is now the United States’s fourth-largest creditor”? They’ve been increasing their wealth, which has afforded the US the opportunity to spread its debt.

This according to a book by Larry Rohter, BRAZIL ON THE RISE: The story of a country transformed, reviewed in the June 17, 2011 issue of the Times Literary Supplement.

To read between the lines, Brazil is changing from a crappy country to a not-so crappy country. Given Rohter’s retarded analysis—Brazil’s improvement he puts down, in part, to wise “cash-transfer social programmes”—it’s hard to know what’s afoot. The Left truly feels—for they don’t think—that moving money from wealth creators to wealth consumers generates plenty.

It’s safer to say that, as in Chile, freeing markets has generated greater prosperity for Brazil.

Like white on rice, the Us in on any country with “significant foreign currency reserves.”