Where to Invade Next?

I was wandering through Planet Books in Mt Lawley (highly recommended for topical, political and thought-provoking material) and noted a book titled "Where to Invade Next?" by Stephen Elliot. On the back cover was the following quote:

"About ten days after 9/11, I went through the Pentagon and I saw Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz. I went downstairs just to say hello to some of the people on the Joint Staff who used to work for me, and one of the generals called me in. He said, "Sir, you've got to come in and talk to me a second." I said, "Well, you're too busy." He said, "No, no." He says, "We've made the decision we're going to war with Iraq." This was on or about the twentieth of September...

"So I came back to see him a few weeks later, and by that time we were bombing in Afghanistan. I said, "Are we still going to war with Iraq?" And he said, "Oh, it's worse than that." He reached over on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper. And he said, "I just got this down from upstairs" (meaning the Secretary of Defense's office) "today." And he said, "This is a memo that describes how we're going to take out seven countries in five years."

— General Wesley Clark, February 27, 2007

Inside the book is listed the top countries (along with explanations) on the USA's hit list ... and yes, Venezuela is there along with the usual suspects of Iran, Sudan and North Korea ;-)

More detail at http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781932416930-0

America's growing enemy

Keep an eye on Venezuela.

According to reports like this and this, Chavez is being too much like a Robin Hood for the US and international bank boys to just stand by and do nothing.

He has already taken back the oil & gas fields, now they plan to ramp up production and hit foreign companies with a 50% tax on excess oil profits.

He also plans to nationalise the cement industry as well as the Argentinian controlled steelmaker and even take measures to ensure that the people of Venezuela have enough food for the future - no way!

And in the back of his mind is still the plan to introduce a Tobin styled tax on financial transactions.

How will they stop him? Rumours of impropriety? Another coup? Acts of terrorism? Assasination? Here's a start.

But there is also the growing concern about who should be the local sherrif of this region of the world. Perhaps The South American Defense Council?

At least that might explain why Venezuela and Brazil are spending big on arms. (Does anyone know why Greece is at the top of the list of big spenders?)

But despite all this, Chavez does appear to have some interesting friends ...
Belarus
China
Iran

Maybe it is a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"?

And if that isn't enough to make you at least question the US stance on Venezuela, try reading the works of Eva Golinger, namely The Chavez Code and Bush vs Chavez - Washington's War on Venezuela or start by reading this review.

Of course, you are also welcome to ignore this and simply take the view that Venezuela deserves everything it gets for its socialist, anti-American, communist-loving, anti-semitic, Simpsons-hating philosphy.

The Other War

Whatever happened to the other war ... you know, the one started by Ronald Reagan, and continued by successive US governments .. the other war against a faceless enemy that was designed to bring fear into the hearts and minds of every Joe and Jane Citizen ... the War on Drugs! ???

Now we know that the USA has used the "War on Drugs" to great effect in achieving its goals in Central and South America. So what would happen if the USA ran up against a rebellious state telling the local sherriff to nick off?

Well, one side would naturally have to make claims of a worsening trafficking problem to highlight the ineffectiveness of the insubordinate regime:
Cocaine Finds a New Latin American Home.

Take particular note of the "tracked" routes (see image below) used by traffickers ... one could easily be led to think that the Dominican Republic is one VERY tripped out place with all the drugs going there, but not seeming to leave! Not to mention that the drugs don't even seem to originate in Columbia anymore either.



Apparently the White House knows where the drugs come from (Venezuela) and knows where they arrive (Dominican Republic) but somehow loses track of them after that!

However, it is also quite evident by these "tracks" that the drugs are not going through any of the usual Central American countries anymore, which must, of course, be due to the incredible success of the long-standing partnership with the US Drug Enforcement Agency ;-)

Of course there's always the other, less popular or politically convenient, side of the story, which boldly claims that Venezuela Boosts Drug Seizures, Arrests Triple.

Now, they can't be both right, can they?

Given the USA's track record on propaganda, I'd bet my Aussie dollar along with a few thousand overinflated Bolivar against the dirty greenback anyday!