Summer 2007
_________________________________________________________________
July 22nd, 2007
Still Living

Yes, I'm still around, though I won't have much time at all for the website until September. 
In the meantime, here is a re-post of something I wrote earlier this year. It seems worth bringing up
again in light of recent developments.
  

Problems in Pakistan
Originally posted March 18th, 2007

I am quite concerned about what is going on in Pakistan these days. There seems to be great instability in the 
country, and the regime of Pakistan's Military Dictator Pervez Musharraf appears to be on shaky ground. 

Pakistan will hold a Presidential election later this year. Musharraf needs to win the election in order to give
his regime the perception of legitimacy as it seeks to extend its rule. (Musharraf came to power in a coup in 1999)
He does not want to be seen as just another military dictator. In an effort to improve his chances at the polls,
Musharraf has begun to crack down on his political opponents. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry,
Pakistan's top judge, was recently dismissed and placed under house arrest. When protests erupted
over Chaudhry's controversial (and probably illegal) firing and detention, police moved in to censor the press,
taking popular news channel Geo TV off the air. Among those roughed up at Geo TV was one of the world's
best journalists, Hamid Mir. If you don't know who Mir is, I suggest that you read this.   

Aside from the international PR issue this thuggish behaviour has generated, Musharraf has bigger problems. 
Once seen as an indispensable friend of Washington in its "War on Terror," Musharraf has now found that US 
support for his regime is waning. The Americans say that Pakistan has done nothing to secure the border with
Afghanistan and that terrorist groups operate freely within the country. To be fair to Musharraf, Washington's
expectations have been so high as to be unreasonable. Pakistan's frontier region along the Afghan border is
nearly impossible to govern. Recent efforts to gain control of the area cost the Pakistani military dearly;
they took significant casualties and made themselves very unpopular in a country where the Taliban
enjoys a fair measure of public support. To do exactly as Washington wishes (if it were possible) would be 
politically suicidal for Musharraf. He has shown great skill in his ability to maintain his alliance with
the US without completely eroding support for his regime at home. Washington however, is growing impatient.
A recent report outlined US support for the overthrow of Musharraf. The article says that 
"elite echelons of the military" seek to depose Musharraf and replace him with his current deputy, 
General Ahsan Saleem Hyat. 

This is where another bad neo-conservative idea becomes a problem for all of us. The fact that US support for
this coup is likely to backfire is entirely predictable. In 1953, the CIA helped to overthrow Iran's democratically
elected Prime Minister Mossadegh in order to install the tyrannical, but pro-western Shah. Anger over this led to
the eventual rise of anti-American mullahs in the Iranian Revolution. As in Iran, anger at the US for meddling in
Pakistan's affairs (a violation of the sovereignty of yet another Muslim country) would mobilize support for anyone
who would dare stand up to Washington. US intervention in Pakistan's would likely pave the way for Islamic radicals
to seize control of Pakistan's government. (not to mention its nuclear arsenal) There are well known Qutbists
who have the support of the Pakistani population as well as a few high-ranking friends within Pakistan's military.
They even have a leader in waiting.

Retired General Hamid Gul is sometimes referred to as the most powerful man in Pakistan. Here is an interview
with Gul from March of 2004. Gul rose in the ranks of the Pakistani military during the rule of Zia ul Haq, 
the President responsible for " the Islamization of Pakistan." (It is said that many officers with extremist 
sympathies were given influential posts during ul-Haq's rule) As Director of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence
Directorate, (Pakistan's version of the CIA or KGB) Gul supported Afghan mujahadeen during their war with the
Soviet Union. He is credited with helping to create the Taliban. He is a friend of Al Qaeda and an admirer of Osama
Bin Laden. Gul wants Pakistan to be ruled by a Taliban-style government. It is said that many important figures within
the Pakistani military are loyal to Gul. It has been suggested that if Pakistan were ever to hold a truly democratic
election, Gul would stand a fair chance of winning the vote in some parts of the country. It is also suggested that
if he were ever to come to power, Gul would enjoy significant popular support. Is it really wise for the US to 
entertain the idea of supporting a coup against a US friendly strongman, while men like Gul wait in the wings? 

Unlike other targets of US aggression, Pakistan HAS weapons of mass destruction. They have recently tested
medium-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads to targets as far away as Tel Aviv. This is one hornet's
nest that would best remain un-disturbed. The fact that Musharraf is an un-elected military strongman might best be
ignored; the political reality is that Musharraf is probably the best possible friend that Washington could have. 
To try to replace him with some other dictator would likely prove to be disastrous. The potential of the US making
an enemy in Pakistan is far too dangerous. Regardless of what the US does, it should be interesting to see what
happens in Pakistan through the rest of this year. Whatever Musharraf does before the vote will likely have a great
impact on an already troubled region. Let's hope that Washington will allow Pakistan to settle its own affairs, 
without the sort of interference that would come back to haunt us all.

_________________________________________________________________
June 24th, 2007

St-Jean Baptiste
Bonne Fête National a mes amis Quebecois. As you may have noticed, things have slowed down a little here at
breadwithcircus.com. Summer has arrived in our beautiful Yukon, the days stretch long into the evening, the RV's
are lumbering up the highway, and there is a flurry of outdoor activity. Given the nature of our life here north 
of 60, its hard for me to find time for updates to the site. So to those of you who were wondering, yes, I am still
here. My work is seasonal, and its busy season. I will continue to update the site from time to time, but really,
things will be a little slower on this page until September rolls around. By then, there will be lots to talk about.
Washington will be launching its all-out PR assault in order to convince us that Tehran needs bombing. Israel
will still be smarting from its summer trip to Gaza. Also, there's that hurricane and the resulting $80 oil.
Until then, I wish all of you a great summer. Get outside. Slow down. Take a canoe trip and find a good place 
to breathe deeply. It will be a hectic fall.
 

_________________________________________________________________
June 9th, 2007
Putin 1 - Halliburton 0
Vladimir Putin must be good at chess. At the G8 summit on Thursday, Putin diffused a potential new Cold War
by suggesting that the US Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system would be acceptable to Moscow if it were 
built by Russians and located in Azerbaijan. This was political genius. The whole world watched Putin come out
of the summit looking magnanimous and compromising. He appeared to show the kind of leadership that is
necessary to deal with the major problems of our time. In reality, Putin wiped the floor with George W Bush
while giving the finger to the US Military Industrial complex.

In case you missed it, here is the back story. In recent weeks, rhetoric between Moscow and Washington has
become heated over the proposed US construction of BMD stations in Poland and the Czech Republic. The BMD 
system is supposed to fire missiles at incoming enemy missiles, shooting them out of the sky before they
can strike their targets. Vladimir Putin had raised very public objections to US plans. He argued that the
US missiles, if built, would threaten Russia, giving the US the capability to launch a nuclear first strike
without fear of retaliation. Putin announced that the BMD project was unnacceptable and that Russia would 
target its nuclear missiles on European cities if the US went ahead with construction. It looked as if the bad
old days were coming back again. This did not make sense. I couldn't understand why Putin was being so 
aggressive. Surely he must have known one of Washington's worst kept secrets...

The Ballistic Missile Defence system doesn't work. It has failed test after test, and its success faces seemingly
insurmountable technical barriers. Even if the US were able to make the BMD system work, it has been 
suggested that it could be easily defeated by launching garbage towards it. (This would cause the system to
waste its expensive ammo blowing up scrap metal) The rationale given for putting BMD stations in Europe is
that the stations are required to defend against an Iranian Nuclear Missile Attack. This argument should be enough
to convince anyone that the planned missile sites were not a threat to anyone. Iran has neither the motive 
nor the capability to attack Europe, let alone the US. The only nation Iran threatens is Israel; missiles
stationed in the Polish countryside would do little to help Tel Aviv.  

I don't think that this new incarnation of Reagan's "Star Wars" program was ever intended to work. Rather, the 
whole project seems to be little more than an opportunity for the US Government to funnel hundreds of billions
of dollars to its well-connected friends in the defence industry. Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and the
others would have gladly pocketed obscene amounts of money (those are your tax dollars my American friends) 
to build a useless system. This is how they get their campaign contributions back. Surely Putin knew this. So 
why did he get so upset? I could understand his rhetoric if he were merely playing politics to hard-liners at home.
Talking tough plays well with Russian conservatives, and oldsters who miss the Soviet days. Still, something 
didn't quite add up.   

I think that Putin, knowing the real nature of the BMD program, decided that he wanted a piece of the pie for
himself. The US was determined to build the trillion dollar lemon, well-entrenched Washington lobbyists would 
see to that. By manufacturing a controversy, Putin had the whole world on edge. Close attention would be paid 
to every word he spoke at the G8 summit. After building a great stage for himself and ensuring that everyone 
was watching, Putin backed Bush into a corner, and then caught him by surprise. In a move that must have 
infuriated Washington neo-Conservatives, the whole world watched Bush pledge to seriously consider Putin's 
offer. Neither Russia nor the world will forget that pledge. Checkmate.  

What is the end result of all of this? The BMD system is going ahead regardless of all opposition. Putin
has just managed to give his own defence contractors a seat at the table when the money starts going out. 
US companies will take a hit. Dick Cheney will not be amused. It will take a few days for the corporate
media to catch up to this. Expect the talking heads to begin to tell you about Putin's tyrannical and 
anti-democratic ways. Maybe they'll even say he supports terrorism. That aside, by asserting himself so
brilliantly on the world stage, Putin has already won the public relations battle. His manoeuvering will
certainly delay implementation of the BMD program. It may have even ensured that the US treasury will 
soon be writing checks to Moscow.
   

Iran deports nearly 100,000 Afghan Refugees
"They are poor and needy and naturally will fuel the Taliban insurgency."
US Government Disappears 39 People
Six human rights groups on Wednesday released a list of 39 people they believe have been
secretly imprisoned by the United States and whose whereabouts are unknown
Israel and Syria Ready for War
...preparations are being made across both sides of the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights area occupied
by Israel since 1967. 

_________________________________________________________________
June 1st, 2007
Is This a Concentration Camp?
Video of a Future FEMA Camp - youtube video
The facility is in Beech Grove Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis

_________________________________________________________________
Archives
Main Page