What Makes a Just Assassination?

How do we measure evil? And how do we celebrate it?

Soldiers are brave and demand respect, especially those that have been run around the middles east for the past 10 years making oil cheaper for the rest of the world, and making jobs and contracts for weapons and construction industries. These soldiers deserve to celebrate a victory. They were told from the start that this the Afghanistan war was about Osama Bin Laden and weapons of mass destruction were, this was the cause that made many join the fight, whether this is right or wrong is a separate question. These soldiers have been endanger and away from their families over essentially a gigantic lie. The killing of Osama Bin Lade is a moment where these soldiers can claim a victory in the reasons that they joined to fight in the first place, and in the context of their experience we should not detract from this victory, not a victory of violence or a victory over any meaningful or worthwhile military or political goal but a victory psychologically over all of the lies told to soldiers over the course of this war.

Not everything should be made into a political statement. People's identify with conflict and their subsequent measure of victory is a hard thing to challenge, especially in the context of a real experience and a perspective. However, it is important also to consider as a separate issue the ethical and political consequence of actions, especially the military ones that have occurred. As soldiers and citizen this need to happen in the realm of thought not in the realm of statements. There is a serious ethical and political reality to the killing of Osama but, there is also a reality to the individuals who have been their and have lived the lie and the struggle that has been these last couple of wars.  There is little denying that targeted assassinations are unethical. Anyone arguing otherwise and claims that assassination (murder) is justifiable when the person in question is killer of innocent civilians should be ready to assassinate the current and past president of the USA (for explanation see charts).

There is away of respecting both the personal and political contexts of the Osama Bin Laden assassination, some  the both require empathy, reason and a heterodox political understanding that is non-dogmatic nor hypocritical. One group can celebrate something psychological and personal, while another can critique and remand something political.

Osama Bin Laden- 9.11.2001 ---- Civilian Death Toll:  2,752 

President Bush --Iraq War- 0319.2003:

Year	Civilian deaths
2003	12,079
2004	10,834
2005	15,034
2006	27,850
2007	24,677
2008	9,245
2009	4,681
2010	3,576

Afghanistan War Civilian Casualities -- Presient Obama

More: Guardian Afghanistan civilian causalities and who did it

The more the opposition becomes dependent on military means, the more influence will be accorded to those within their ranks with military skills, which means defecting soldiers, those with experience fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, or those connected to past paramilitary groups. The more dependent the opposition becomes on the Western powers, the more influence will be accorded to those with connections to and views compatible with these powers.

The more the opposition becomes dependent on military means, the more influence will be accorded to those within their ranks with military skills, which means defecting soldiers, those with experience fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan, or those connected to past paramilitary groups. The more dependent the opposition becomes on the Western powers, the more influence will be accorded to those with connections to and views compatible with these powers.

1. Is Qaddafi socialist? Was he ever?
 
Socialists believe that people should democratically and collectively control all aspects of their lives. Qaddafi has ruled Libya as an absolute dictator -- the very antithesis of socialism -- for more than four decades. The fact that he calls his political system a direct democracy is as relevant as the fact that East Germany used to call itself a People's Democracy or that the Pentagon calls itself the Defense Department.
 
It is true that Libya, because of its oil wealth, has a relatively high human development index (HDI), a UN-developed measure that takes account of income, literacy, and life expectancy. But this no more makes it socialist than the even higher HDIs of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, or the roughly equivalent HDI of Saudi Arabia make any of them socialist. 

The federal spending controversy

With another federal spending controversy brewing on Capitol Hill, recall that in his 2010 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama said, “We’ve already identified $20 billion in savings for next year.” Now it’s next year — so what happened to the $20 billion in savings? Let’s follow the bouncing budget cut.

The “$20 billion” promise was not the sort of empty verbiage that dominates the federal spending debate. How many times have you heard a politician thunder about cutting spending but not cite even one specific reduction he or she supports? A year ago, the Office of Management and Budget laid out Obama’s proposed cuts in specific detail.

Economics for president (obama hires CEO of GE)

Obama Taps GE CEO for Economic Panel

President Obama has tapped another top corporate figure for a key White House role. On Thursday, Obama said he is naming General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt to head the newly formed President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. The council will replace the former Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which had been chaired by Paul Volcker, the former chair of the Federal Reserve. Volcker will step down when his panel’s mandate expires next month. Immelt’s appointment has drawn scrutiny in part because he opposed Obama’s presidential candidacy. During the 2008 elections, Immelt donated to Hillary Clinton as well as Republicans John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney. His appointment follows the recent hiring of former commerce secretary and JPMorgan Chase executive William Daley as White House chief of staff.

House-Controlled GOP to Vote on Healthcare Repeal

The Republican-controlled House is expected to approve a measure today repealing President Obama’s healthcare law. Republicans opened debate Tuesday despite Democratic vows to block advancement in the Senate. Republicans expect to follow the vote with another measure instructing House committees to draft alternative proposals. On the House floor, Democratic Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky denounced the Republican effort.

Rep. John Yarmuth: "They can say whatever they want, but the truth is that the Republican plan is no care, no matter how desperate or how dire your diagnosis, no matter if the alternative saves money, saves jobs and saves lives. I yield back."

Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio also criticized the repeal effort but said Congress ultimately should establish a single-payer healthcare system.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich: "Repeal means Americans will continue to pay more for insurance but get less, that is, if they can afford health insurance in the first place. The very idea of healthcare reform solely within the context of a for-profit system has been more than problematic. Today, 50 million Americans have no health insurance. What are we going to do for them? Rather than waste time on debating how much reform insurance companies will permit, if any, it’s time to change the debate. It’s time to end the for-profit healthcare model. It’s time for a not-for-profit healthcare, single-payer, universal, Medicare for all."

Way to go US DEMS--- thanks (ass holes)

House Dems Reject Obama-GOP Tax Deal

The Senate appears headed toward approval of President Obama’s controversial fiscal deal with Republicans amidst an uproar by Democratic members of the House. This week, Obama agreed to extend the Bush-era tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and reduce the estate tax in return for a 13-month extension of jobless benefits and a handful of tax credits for low- and moderate-income Americans. According to the New York Times, at least a quarter of the tax savings under the deal will go to the wealthiest one percent of the population. The only group that will see its taxes increase are the nation’s lowest-paid workers. The Senate has scheduled a test vote on Monday after opening debate on the measure last night. Meanwhile in the House, the Democratic caucus passed a non-binding measure denouncing the tax deal. At the White House, President Obama urged lawmakers to drop their opposition.

President Obama: "The average American family will start 2011 knowing that there will be more money to pay the bills each month, more money to pay for tuition, more money to raise their children. But if this framework fails, the reverse is true. Americans would see it in smaller paychecks that would have the effect of fewer jobs. So as we meet here today to talk about one important facet of our economic strategy for the future, I urge members of Congress to move forward on this essential priority."

Senate GOP Blocks "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" Repeal, DREAM Act, 9/11 Settlement

The U.S. Senate has failed to advance a measure that would repeal the military’s ban on openly gay and lesbian servicemembers known as "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." On Thursday, the Senate fell three votes short of advancing a military spending bill with a repeal provision attached. The vote raises the prospect that the ban will not be repealed before Republicans take over the House and weaken the Democrats’ Senate majority next month. In another vote, Republicans also blocked a measure to advance the DREAM Act, a provision that would grant undocumented young people a chance at citizenship. Republicans also blocked a measure to provide up to $7.4 billion to workers sickened during the cleanup at the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks. The measure passed the House earlier this year.

Obama Authorizes Settlements for Native Americans, Black Farmers

And President Obama has signed into law a pair of multi-billion-dollar settlements resolving longstanding lawsuits over the mismanagement of Native American land trusts and discrimination against African-American farmers. Under the Cobell settlement, $3.4 billion will be paid out to more than 300,000 Native Americans to settle claims over unpaid royalties on seized lands. African-American farmers will receive just more than $1.1 billion under the Pigford II settlement for having been systemically denied aid and loans by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Filmmaker Michael Moore on Midterm Elections, the Tea Party, and the Future of the Democratic Party

AMY GOODMAN: What do you make of war not really being mentioned—

MICHAEL MOORE: At all.

AMY GOODMAN:—in this—

MICHAEL MOORE: At all.

AMY GOODMAN:—in this midterm elections.

MICHAEL MOORE: Gone, right.

AMY GOODMAN: The talk shows on Sunday—WikiLeaks, the biggest military intelligence leak in the history of this country, that week the major agenda-setting talk shows on the networks there was no discussion—

MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN:—of what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

MICHAEL MOORE: That’s right.

AMY GOODMAN: And when it’s raised with the hosts, they say, "Because we’re talking about the midterm elections."

MICHAEL MOORE: Right.

AMY GOODMAN: Aren’t the elections a referendum on the major policy issues—

MICHAEL MOORE: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN:—domestic and foreign?

MICHAEL MOORE: Right. You know, what I really want to say to that, I don’t want to say it. You know. 

AMY GOODMAN: Just don’t curse, because we want to play it on the air.

Voting to Make it Worse - Thomas Frank

An Obit on Our Hopes---Robert Scheer

15 year old boy held by US for war crimes, youngest ever.

Gitmo Prisoner Could Return to Canada Next Year

A Canadian citizen held by the US since he was a teenager could be returning to Canada as early as next year. On Monday, Omar Khadr was ordered to serve a maximum of eight more years of a forty-year sentence after pleading guilty to war crimes charges last week. But as part of the plea deal, the US government agreed to allow Khadr’s transfer to a Canadian prison. Once in Canada, Khadr could be eligible for release within three years under the country’s sentencing rules. Khadr was fifteen years old when US troops imprisoned him in Afghanistan in 2002. He says US military guards beat him and threatened him with rape after he arrived at Guantánamo that same year. His trial was set to be the first under the Obama administration’s revised military commissions system and the first war crimes tribunal anywhere since World War II to prosecute someone for acts allegedly committed as a juvenile.

The United States of America Has Gone Mad - British Author John le Carré

Noam Chomsky on Obamas Foreign Policy, His Own History of Activism, and Speaking Out

From the White House to Obama's House: Race and Political Transition

As he faces a critical juncture in his presidency, it is perhaps useful for President Obama to reflect upon an obscure but relevant anniversary. On October 17, 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt officially changed the name of the president’s residence to the “White House.” Significantly, this occurred on the day after his controversial White House dinner with black leader Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt had been in office six weeks following the September 6, 1901 shooting and subsequent death of President William McKinley. The dinner, as viewed by some in the black community, was supposed to signal a new receptivity by the white political establishment to engagement with African Americans. In fact, it achieved the opposite. The virulent reaction to breaking the racial mores of the time closed the door not only on Washington, but other black leaders for nearly 30 years. At the same time, a new political era was dawning not only in the black community but in the nation as a whole.

Entrapment or Foiling Terror? FBI’s Reliance on Paid Informants Raises Questions about Validity of Terrorism Cases

US to Announce $2 Billion in Military Aid for Pakistan

The Obama administration is expected to announce a $2 billion military package for Pakistan when the US and Pakistan hold high-level talks later this week. Pakistan’s military will use the money to buy US-made helicopters, weapons systems and equipment to intercept communications. The aid also includes more counterinsurgency assistance and a program that will allow members of Pakistan’s military to study at American war colleges. Meanwhile, Pakistanis continue to be devastated by the floods that have swept across Pakistan affecting nearly 20 million people. The UN’s $2 billion aid appeal for the floods, which was launched nearly a month ago, remains only 34 percent funded.

Obama Admin Seeks Changes to Telecom Surveillance Laws

The New York Times reports the Obama administration plans to ask Congress next year to approve legislation that requires phone and broadband carriers to ensure that their networks can be wiretapped by the government. A similar law is already on the books, but officials say it has not prevented some of the nation’s major telecommunications companies from making network changes that disrupt the government’s ability to conduct wiretaps.

Injustice in the age of Obama: Mother Murder by US military, no justice no proof

Since being the defendant in about six trials after I was arrested for protesting the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations, it’s my experience that the police lie. Period.

However the lies don’t stop at street law enforcement level. From lies about WMD and connections to "al Qaeda," almost every institution of so-called authority - the Pentagon, State Department, CIA, FBI, all the way up to the Oval Office and back down - lie. Not white lies, but big, Mother of all BS (MOAB) lies that lead to the destruction of innocent lives. I.F Stone was most definitely on the ball when he proclaimed, "Governments lie".

Having clarified that, I would now like to examine a case that should be enshrined in the travesty of the US Justice Hall of Shame.

Timidity on the Mall

An Undemanding "One Nation" Rally

By STANLEY HELLER

The “One Nation Working Together” rally was billed as a chance to “demand the changes we voted for”. That slogan was just for the suckers. There was barely any criticism of the Administration from the main stage, just bleats for jobs and justice.

You would think that up on the main stage there would be giant banners with progressive slogans, “Obama, Hire Millions Now” “Defend Public Education from the Privatizers”, “Why are a Million Blacks in Prison?”, “Cut the Pentagon Budget in Half”. But there were no banners at all. Instead there were flags, lots of American flags.

None of the rally speakers were announced beforehand. That’s always a big draw. Was it stupidity or just an effort to avoid showing that “peace” would not be part of the demonstration. Bless his heart, rally speaker Harry Belafonte did vigorously denounce our wars and he actually condemned the Afpak surge saying, “The President’s decision to escalate the war in that region alone costs the nation $33 billion”. He didn’t challenge the President to bring the troops home, but no one else on the main stage criticized Obama on anything.

Dissent in the age of Obama (doesn't exist)

“The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.” - Albert Camus

Recently, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) raided the homes of at least eight anti-war/social justice activists here in the US.

I happen to be a prominent anti-war activist myself, and have joked that I am a “little hurt” that I was not raided and perhaps I should try harder. Even though, we have the urge to try and be light-hearted in this time of an increasing police state, with civil liberties on the retreat, it really isn't funny considering that the activists could face some serious charges stemming from these raids.

I have felt this harassment on a smaller scale myself and I know that defending oneself against a police state that has unlimited resources, time and cruelty, can be quite expensive, time consuming and annoying.