Topic: WE'RE STUFFED!!!

[Builder]

Here is the original post about Wikileaks: http://restlesssoma.com.au/soma/index.php?topic=460.msg70152#msg70152

Interesting article about 'potent democratic youth movement in Arab states'
Interesting article about 'potent democratic youth movement in Arab states'

The plot gets more and more interesting. Apparently, the  US administration was aware for at least a year of the brewing revolt in the Middle East.

[Michael]

I glad to hear it - glad to hear they were doing their job of keeping abreast of changing events. With all the money they throw at information gathering, if they hadn't seen it coming, it would be a serious incompetence.

What is curious, that despite pre-warning, they still don't know what to do about all this. They are compromised - between backing their cronies and backing the new emerging forces within these countries, including Democracy. The US desperately needs Middle East (read 'oil') stability.

[Michael]

[Michael]

Yemen is for some reason off the main radar - it is the most aggressive of protesting Arab states, but perhaps too insignificant to affect the rest.

Bahrain (I now know how to pronounce this word, but you have to have that Arabic throat sound to get it right) is i sense the crucial situation. Under threat from this rising generation of world-savvy people who are fed up with the old bullshit, Arab totalitarian governments are all seeking a protective response. Now Bahrain has taken the hard line, they are all watching to see if it works.

I wonder if it will work. Somehow I think it's a bummer for the big dicks.

Oh, and the poor US - Bahrain is the headquarters of the 5th Fleet. Then Barack said they came out heavy against the Iranian response to protests because it was violent. Now Bahrain's response is the same, what does US say? Oh well, now that a different case again. Bahrain has no oil - it gets it's funding from the US. This is a test case for the Obama Administration, and they will rue the day they make a mistake here.

[Michael]

Obama on ACID?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA-451XMsuY

[Michael]

I am astounded by what is happening across the Arab world. I hear of more countries every day, where demonstrations are erupting. The whole Arab world is on fire.

But Libya is the most incredible. Despite the extreme reaction from the government, the people are keeping up the pressure. I read that on Saturday they over-ran a military brigade in Benghazi. And they are being extremely creative to get their videos and tweets out through the internet blockade in Libya. I'm reading 200 people have been killed Saturday.

I am so impressed with the courage of these unarmed people in all these countries, to keep facing up to violent security forces. I expect the authorities are completely at a loss in knowing how to adequately respond to such mass uprisings.

I wonder if all this is connected to the solar flairs.

[Michael]

I have just read that Benghazi has fallen to the people - military and police are holed up and running out of ammunition.

[Builder]

Considering the scale and timing of the unrest (almost like an eruption - way beyond the scale of subversion achievable by any intelligence service), it seems to me that Sun is playing growing role in what we see. It seems that people are literally pushed around to show whether they are able to grow and effect changes, or not.

This certainly does not subtract anything from the self-sacrifice and determination of those killed when confronting security services and armed forces.

I would guess the push of Sun will soon reach other societies as well.

[Nichi]

If I'm not mistaken, 9/11 occured during a solar maximum.

[Builder]

What happens next?

Pak is ratcheting it up.
ISI claims Raymond Davis, formerly of Special Forces, now a private contractor, was definitely on a payroll of CIA at the  moment of the incident.

The relations between the CIA and ISI are at the level comparable to pre 9/11 days. That is very ominous. One explanation may be that Pak is deliberately pedaling Islamist card to avoid upheavals in the fashion of Middle East and North Africa.

[Michael]

I can't see Pak as similar to the Middle East countries, as it does have a democratic process, which is hotly participated in, as in India. I expect this Davis affair is more about local politics. However now the Republicans have stepped up their profile in government, it is possible some funding will be delayed.

The main problem is that the Pak government is very aligned with the US, and receives huge funding for their military from the US. Thus they allow US agents almost free rein through the country, and impunity form normal police action. But the population believes that all their trouble comes from the CIA/Blackwater, Mossad, and RAW.

So the politicians have to play a double game, at with Pakistanis are expert. This time however, it appears the Islamists pulled a swifty by getting the wife of one of the murdered Pakistanis to denounce the US on film, then quietly murdering her in a way to make it look like suicide.

It has not helped that the Pakistanis were ISI agents, meaning that this issue runs deeper than popular opinion - likely an attempt by Islamists within the police and ISI to regain control of the political agenda.

[Michael]

I'd say Gaddafi is now a gonner. He is being deserted by his own people, and I'd say the idea behind bringing in foreign mercenaries is because he knows he can't trust his military.

Morocco is also on fire, so we will see how the authorities respond there.

Bahrain and Yemen have pulled back from the violent response - at least Bahrain has in a dramatic way. So we are watching to see if the old guard in both these countries can negotiate a deal. Neither have the Egyptian situation of a much-loved military to fall back on. But Bahrain is no poor country - it is a well educated and middle-class scenario, based on US money. So they have a chance of a reasonable outcome.

Every other Middle-East dictatorship is likely to descend into very unpleasant consequences.

Israel of course is scared shitless, and the US Administration is completely at sea, despite all their fore-warnings.

The other extraordinary case is Iran - that they are taking to the streets again after all that happened last time, is indicative of the feeling bubbling there.

[Builder]

I can't see Pak as similar to the Middle East countries, as it does have a democratic process, which is hotly participated in, as in India. I expect this Davis affair is more about local politics. However now the Republicans have stepped up their profile in government, it is possible some funding will be delayed.

The main problem is that the Pak government is very aligned with the US, and receives huge funding for their military from the US. Thus they allow US agents almost free rein through the country, and impunity form normal police action. But the population believes that all their trouble comes from the CIA/Blackwater, Mossad, and RAW.

So the politicians have to play a double game, at with Pakistanis are expert. This time however, it appears the Islamists pulled a swifty by getting the wife of one of the murdered Pakistanis to denounce the US on film, then quietly murdering her in a way to make it look like suicide.

It has not helped that the Pakistanis were ISI agents, meaning that this issue runs deeper than popular opinion - likely an attempt by Islamists within the police and ISI to regain control of the political agenda.

It appears that insurgents/ISI have scored a jackpot. Allegedly, Raymond Davis was an acting head of CIA in Pakistan tasked with gathering intelligence on insurgents. Considering how Pakistanis feel about possible release of Davis, and under how much pressure is Pakistani government, CIA seems to have been effectively paralysed within Pakistan.

[Michael]

Those poor bastards in Tripoli - the yellow hard-hat mercenaries are going door-to-door killing people.

The latest estimate is 600 dead, but I suspect the real casualty figure is much higher.

We keep seeing dramatic scenes from Christchurch on the TV. Seems there is no escape once the cement above you collapses.

[Builder]

Those poor bastards in Tripoli - the yellow hard-hat mercenaries are going door-to-door killing people.

The latest estimate is 600 dead, but I suspect the real casualty figure is much higher.

Indeed, they say dead bodies are scattered on the streets and nobody does anything about them.