During the '70's and later, the LAPD had a reputation for not only excessive force but officers continually using their badge and gun to do as they pleased at minor traffic stops, etc. Living there until '83, we all knew to behave when stopped for any reason or risk arrest or worse. It was common knowledge cops would run tags when they saw an attractive woman driving in order to get her name. They would stop her hoping to get a date--This was common. I knew cops who used their uniform and gun to do as they pleased to a citizen and laughed about it. The Rampart Div debacle is an example of a police force run amok--It has gotten worse since 9/11. Arming these cavemen with tasers was a horrible idea as they now use it when it was obviously not needed. I don't see this steady march of fascism being turned back. We have indeed become a police state.
Why is Israel "entitled" to attack a sovereign country? Biggest dog on the block is the reason and the WH needs Israel who has bought and paid for political clout for decades. Giving the green light to Israel is the same as loosing a mad dog off its chain. Besides, they don't need permission as they are the nuclear power in the Middle East. It appears we are going to war with Iran to back up Israel at some point soon. Iran is no threat, but then neither was Iraq and we blew that country beyond the stone age. God, I love this country--God, guns and bombs! Full speed ahead. Looks like we are going to have 4 more years of the Bushites.
If he is so "uneasy", why is this a consideration? He came up with this idea less than a month into office so he is merely talking the talk for MSM. Voluntary execution? Now there is a new one. We tortured for false confessions, can't seem to try them (For the truth will come out), can't seem to release them (The ones innocent and the questionable guilty) so the option of indefinite imprisonment, more torture and isolation is execution!. Wow. So this is what we have come to. When I read this, I thought I was in another country, not the US. I can't believe, even as I have seen this evolution since Reagan in particular, we have embraced torture and murder as a viable option for "keeping our country safe"--Worse, that the press is silent and complicit. This is going to be a very long 4 years under this man and his Bush clones.
The comment that Iraq has been turned into a toxic waste dump is an understatement--It is a dumping ground having global impact. DU weapons and their remains on the ground and in the air. The sea of sewage that is growing and visible from satellite imaging. All who have served and now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq are coming back sick and the military keeps denying there is a health problem. This last is typical of the military and all WH Administrations who have sent our men and women to wars. They want the troops but do not want the responsibility for the damage caused by doing their fighting. Issues about Vietnam are not resolved. The Gulf War Syndrome still under study. This will drag out for decades with little resolution as the Vets get sicker and die. This is the sad truth.
If Zelaya was allying himself with Chavez, pulling away from US influence in the country, it would stand to reason the US would promote a coup to maintain power in Honduras. The US has a long sordid track record there. The WH does not like the influence Chavez is having in that region and would do anything to halt his own parade of followers who are all tired of US interference. The ones in charge now have been trained by the US so our fingerprints are all over the coup.
The US has done this time and again without learning anything new. We prop them up, buy them, bribe them, abandon them and move on the next target. This worked well in Afghanistan where our man there barely controls Kabul and nothing else. We hung Hussein when we got tired of him. We kidnapped Noriega and put him in prison. Others have made this point better than I but we should remember how excellent the US plan worked in Iran when we tossed out a real democratic govt and put our man, the Shah, in power. We are still paying for that debacle.
I am trying to imagine another country, say France, England, Spain, Italy, China, or...Iran, setting aside $20 million to generate regime change in the US by funding dissidents and disruption of services and getting away with such a thing. We do it, why shouldn't they?
His statement comes as no surprise. If he had his way when he was running his country he would have executed all who opposed him and his paranoid agenda. The fact that he is still free and speaking in public as he is just boggles the mind. The world must be sitting back in amazement with their jaws open at this lunatic.
Your article is on point; however, I disagree on the point where the American people are willing to go along with this "overseas contingency operation". We are not but no one in the WH is listening. We have been worn down by the meltdown, unemployment, foreclosures, pensions disappearing--In that aspect, the govt. has won the war they started on the middle-class when Reagan came into office. They have beaten us down to the point that we don't see an option for change. We believed Obama was going to be the one to do it, but he has proven he is not. He is more of the same but giving it a more colorful name. The Republicans lied and got us in this mess and we abandoned them like the Titanic going down. We gave the Democrats the power and they have abandoned us as well. What's left? No one is listening to what we want, or what we need.
This idea of doing a Pilate (Washing our hands of the issue) is attractive but not realistic. Too many politicians (And their minions) owe their political success to Israeli benefactors. What needs to change is this two party system (Now a one-party) and all those in the pockets of Israel thrown out of office. l don't see that coming in my lifetime or the next for anyone. This financial hold is too deep now and runs the most important aspects of our government.
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