Who’s buying?
Music selection compliments of WB.
Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.
Archive | March, 2009A Word About the Blog
Now that I’m finally settled in D.C., I’d like to talk about what’s going on around here, which actually started after the primaries last year. Big changes, good changes, with more to come. There has been a change in the community, too, and that’s not over either.
First, I made a risky decision to focus on foreign policy, one of my passions, in addition to the usual fare of political analysis, my main gig. It was a jolt for some, especially after the primary season, because the wonky side of foreign policy isn’t as easily digested as the sport of campaign politics. But it’s a choice I made taking me further down a road I’ve been traveling through serious study for a very long time, long before I made it a central focus of my writing around here, though I do mix it up. This will continue and broaden, which won’t be for everyone, but it’s following my bliss, so there you have it.
Secondly, the community has shifted from last year in a dramatic way. We all know why, but considering Clinton is Secretary of State, it’s all good in my opinion. The newcomers are terrific, as was the big community we had going last year, as are the people who have been following me for over a decade.
However, some are struggling and want to rekindle the community of last year, bemoaning the tight group that finds consensus here in the comments at times. It’s intimidating for people who aren’t part of the die hard Obama chorus, which has naturally broadened since Barack Obama became president. So let me make something clear. This is a site for all opinions and political stripes, though I don’t have any patience for commenters who claim Dick Cheney is a hero, because it doesn’t foster serious debate, but is meant to bait people. That said, dissenters are welcome. In fact, I encourage you. We need more of it around here.
The one thing that is really odd is the lack of courage to engage the cliques that rise up inside the comment section, which cause it to be a bit insular. I’m getting emails about how hard it is to comment because of it. Buck up. Take a deep breath and engage. Disagree. Debate. Have a rhetorical rumble. Name calling is just that, so jump in and fight back. I can’t do this for you.
I’ve been writing on the web since 1996, so I’ve been through a lot of site incarnations. This move is a big one and it’s quite an adventure. I value everyone who stops by here every day, believe me. I learn from your debate when you choose to mix it up. I’d like to see more of it.
Also, I hope to bring the podcast back soon, though it will be different too. One thing it isn’t is the blog. Radio is entertainment; that is if you want to stay or get back on the air, though in this economy that is the biggest long shot of all. I don’t care, because I love doing radio, so I’ll do it however I can. But it’s a whole different thing than the blog, except for when I’m interviewing people on foreign policy, which I did a lot when my show was streamed live. No date, but we’ll get it going in the not too distant future.
So, to sum it up, yes, the blog has changed. It’s not for everyone, but I’m writing about what I find important. The rest will take care of itself.
Moving on… I’ll be out for a while today, so enjoy your Friday. And thanks for making this one of your stops. It means the world to me. My work is not a whim. It’s not just this blog or radio. It’s a passion I’ve had for many years to study, learn and then change my little part of the universe while exploring ideas that matter. Sharing it with those who are interested, one reader, one listener at a time.
Oh, and Happy Nowruz! President Obama has a message (available with Persian caption) for the Iranians. I second it. But I did get a chuckle imagining George W. Bush trying to do something like it, though the very effort will drive the wingnuts mad. Expect another crying fit from Glenn Beck.
Comedy Isn’t for Commanders in Chief
Well, it was bound to happen. But if you’re a talker, which I know something about, this is the type of thing you hear in your head before you utter it, so you stop it before it comes out.
On Jay Leno, from the transcript I received, but it’s everywhere already:
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. I have been practicing all –- (laughter.)
Q Really? Really?
THE PRESIDENT: I bowled a 129. (Laughter and applause.)
Q No, that’s very good. Yes. That’s very good, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: It’s like — it was like Special Olympics, or something. (Laughter.)
Q No, that’s very good.
THE PRESIDENT: No, listen, I’m making progress on the bowling, yes.
Q And how about, are you going to put in a basketball court?
A.I.G. Surrenders Names to Andrew Cuomo
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo won a ruling yesterday against BofA, owner of Merill Lynch, to compel them to release the names of those who received the 200 highest bonuses paid out by Merrill.
When A.I.G. wasn’t forthcoming about the bonuses paid out that have everyone so outraged, Cuomo subpoenaed A.I.G. to release the names. CNBC was the first to report it, but A.I.G. has delivered those names to Attorney General Cuomo:
I have received the list of AIG FP employees who received retention payouts. Mr. Liddy testified in Congress yesterday that he intended to comply with our subpoena and expressed concern for employee safety. Mr. Liddy has in fact now complied with the subpoena. We are aware of the security concerns of AIG employees, and we will be sensitive to those issues by doing a risk assessment before releasing any individual’s name. The Attorney General’s Office is a law enforcement agency and is experienced in making these assessments. …
Finally, someone not only campaigning or simply grandstanding, but actually doing the job he was elected to do.
On another financial note we have the antithesis of Mr. Cuomo. Tim Geithner admitted today in an interview with CNN that he asked Sen. Dodd to include the bonus loophole, because he was afraid the feds would get sued. This is as Dodd recently recounted in his second explanation for how it all happened, after first denying involvement. Boy, this could have been handled better. See Cuomo.
Harrowing Confessions of Israeli Soldiers Killing Palestinian Civilians
[...] During Operation Cast Lead, Israeli forces killed Palestinian civilians under permissive rules of engagement and intentionally destroyed their property, say soldiers who fought in the offensive. …
According to the squad leader: “The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. He shot them straight away. In any case, what happened is that in the end he killed them. …
[...] The squad leader said: “You do not get the impression from the officers that there is any logic to it, but they won’t say anything. To write ‘death to the Arabs’ on the walls, to take family pictures and spit on them, just because you can. I think this is the main thing: To understand how much the IDF has fallen in the realm of ethics, really. It’s what I’ll remember the most.”
The accounts reported in Haaretz are infuriating to anyone writing about the region, especially if you understand the work diplomats, peacekeepers, Israeli and Palestinian alike, but also Arab states, are doing to change things in the Middle East. That they make lies out of Israel Defense Forces’ claims is an understatement.
The IDF testimonies will give some fodder, while depressing others, also potentially hardening hard liners on both sides of the fence. I think it’s a tremendous moment of potential healing, however. But I also know the costs of these types of confessions once they hit the public consciousness. Just ask John Kerry who talked about the legacy of some of what happened during Vietnam.
Kicking Around Edward Liddy
It might have been fun, but was it right?
It’s also not the real nut of the issue: Federal Reserve officials knew for months about bonuses at American International Group but failed to tell the Obama administration.
So, we interrupt the tar and feathering of A.I.G. to review the treatment of Edward Liddy during the hearing yesterday. Excuse me, but there is an important issue that the politicians of both parties seem to refuse to digest so they could put on a show for their constituents about how outraged and angry they are about the A.I.G. bonuses. The performances of some in Congress was not only appalling and counterproductive, but bordered on congressional malfeasance for over the top grandstanding, not to mention being wholly disingenuous and adding nothing to the proceedings, which was to actually gain information so they could solve the problem going forward.
The clip above is of Rep. Lynch, whom I heard on C-SPAN radio yesterday, which was so outrageous I use him as exhibit A. In the clip the exchange below happens at around 4:55. It’s instructive, especially for congress members too ignorant to consider the details. Lynch asks Mr. Liddy if he has anything to say for himself, to which he replies, “Yes, I do,” then continues on:
“You have generously used the word ‘you’ in that construct. As I mentioned, these contracts were all put together before I was at A.I.G. I would not have done these contracts this way and this whole arrangement would have looked, if it had existed, a whole lot different. So I really do take offense, sir, at the use– (interrupted by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-MA)
“Well, offense was intended…” spat Mr. Lynch.
Well, bully for you, you grandstanding blowhard.
The fact that Mr. Liddy was brought in after the A.I.G. debacle began, but was also not involved in putting together the contracts, evidently meant nothing to the congressman from Massachusetts, though he was by no means the only one directing theatrical outrage towards Mr. Liddy.
The Gavel, Speaker Pelosi’s blog, has more clips available, some actually useful.
If you want to know why we don’t get private citizens willing to help out in times of crises now you know. Who needs crap like what Rep. Lynch was slinging Liddy’s way?
You don’t have to be outraged at A.I.G. to understand that directing rhetorical fire at the wrong guy serves no one, but also makes asses out of opportunistic individuals playing politics with a deadly serious issue.
Mr. Liddy is certainly not the hero of the moment, but he didn’t create the problem. Someone send a memo to House members trying to get us out of this mess. They evidently aren’t paying attention to the fine print, which is how we got into this in the first place.
John McCain and Joe Lieberman Learned Nothing
So they decided to get together and prove it by writing a Post op-ed today on “winning in Afghanistan.” As someone who wants a limited troop increase, but most importantly more soft power and civilian involvement, which is exactly what Obama is doing, I find myself once again smack in the middle, between the “get out group” and the “we must win” coalition. There is no “winning” in Afghanistan, there is only losing the country and a failed state if we don’t stay engaged. However, with Joe and John pushing “winning” in Afghanistan, I’m going to make sure their position is not confused with mine or what Obama is about to do. Segue to John and Joe, the “we can win in Afghanistan” coalition.
The political allure of such a reductionist approach is obvious. But it is also dangerously and fundamentally wrong, and the president should unambiguously reject it. Let there be no doubt: The war in Afghanistan can be won. Success — a stable, secure, self-governing Afghanistan that is not a terrorist sanctuary — can be achieved. Just as in Iraq, there is no shortcut to success, no clever “middle way” that allows us to achieve more by doing less. A minimalist approach in Afghanistan is a recipe not for winning smarter but for losing slowly at tremendous cost in American lives, treasure and security.
The delusion in this op-ed is as unyielding and it is frightening.
Not once do you get any hint of how different Afghanistan is than Iraq, and that’s just for starters.
The authors of this ludicrously overoptimistic op-ed never acknowledge that a central government in Afghanistan will never lead to our “success,” and they never mention the Taliban. Their “winning” prescription is a stupendously naive old school prescription, which has never worked before.
But I do agree with one thing, we do need a “comprehensive civil-military counterinsurgency approach,” though we can all do without the “greatly increased resources and an unambiguous U.S. political commitment to success in Afghanistan over the long haul” rhetoric. Conveniently, John and Joe never say where those “increased resources” will come from.
Obama and his team have other ideas.
For starters, Peter W. Galbraith is going to be announced as deputy to Norwegian Kai Eide, the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. This is a huge move by President Obama, which will become fodder for the wingnuts, simply for investing energy alongside the U.N. Secretary Clinton’s State Department is headed to make hundreds of civilians part of our Afghanistan mission. Call it a “civilian surge” if you like, but it’s clearly putting the focus on something other than what has been done before. Francis J. Ricciardone will be headed to Kabul as deputy ambassador.
[...] Obama has pledged to improve the civil-military balance in U.S. operations, and to put more of a civilian face on development and governance efforts. Although the overall civilian deployment plan for Afghanistan awaits Obama’s approval, the State Department has already solicited applications for 51 new positions it expects to fill by July. Up to 300 additional civilians are anticipated under the strategy proposals.
… In addition to increasing its own civilian component, the administration seeks better coordination among the many other governments and international and nongovernmental agencies operating in Afghanistan, often with different rules and objectives. The strategy proposals include a strengthening of the United Nations as a clearinghouse and overall coordinator of nonmilitary efforts…
Muscular diplomacy, led by Clinton’s State Department, and civilians inside Afghanistan will certainly make a big target for enemies, which President Obama no doubt knows. The next issue will be to make certain they’re protected.
There is a brief mention of Pakistan in the article, where our options are few, the risks great, and the chance for improvement minimal, with no military option there at all. That’s likely one reason Obama is putting so much energy into Afghanistan. But also because after 9/11 Bush broke it we never fixed what we screwed up through negligence due to the war in Iraq.
Oh, and before you get any misconceptions remember that there is no guarantee this strategy will work, but it’s the best idea we’ve got. But don’t expect our involvement to end soon. This is a long haul civil-military commitment based on a strategy that is yet untested. Shorter: it’s risky.
To add, Spencer Ackerman thinks we’ve got consensus, with John and Joe basically arguing the conservative version of what Obama’s going to do anyway. I think there’s more to it, but he’s got a point.
On the Foreign Policy Front
Today I’ll be at an event hosted by the New America Foundation and Steve Clemons, “The Autonomy Rule.” As usual, I’ll Twitter if I’ve got connection.
Al Kamen is reporting that Rep. Ellen Tauscher may be tapped for a big time job at State (Robert Einhorn declined the job):
Word is that Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.), chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces and a staunch superdelegate for presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton, is in line for a top post at the State Department, most likely undersecretary for arms control and nonproliferation.
Spencer Ackerman describes possible Pakistani reactions perfectly, because Tauscher has been all over the A.Q. Khan issue, which makes no one in Pakistan happy.
State has ordered all non-essential personnel out of Madagascar.
Obama is expected to appoint an emissary to Sudan amidst criticism that the administration isn’t doing enough, which they deny.
Mr. Obama will tap Maj. Gen. J. Scott Gration, a Swahili-speaking retired Air Force officer who grew up in Africa as the son of missionaries, to take on one of the most delicate diplomatic missions of his presidency, according to three administration officials, who were not authorized to discuss the selection before the official announcement on Wednesday.
Secretary Clinton also spoke on the issue.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton escalated the administration’s oratory on Tuesday, vowing to hold President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan responsible for the expulsion of aid groups.
“This is a horrendous situation that is going to cause untold misery and suffering for the people of Darfur, particularly those in the refugee camps,” she told reporters. “The real question is what kind of pressure can be brought to bear on President Bashir and the government in Khartoum to understand that they will be held responsible for every single death that occurs in those camps.”
Haaretz is reporting that Russian President Medvedev has signed a contract with Iran to sell surface-to-air missiles.
The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies and the independent Interfax quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying Wednesday the contract had been signed two years ago. Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.
I’ll be back later this afternoon.
Bartiromo: ‘I blame the government’
So do I, and you can’t be a partisan to unravel this one, because there is plenty of blame for both sides, including the Obama administration, who has decided to throw Sen. Chris Dodd under a bus. Part of all this is due to the fact that I’m not sure Congress is smart enough to sort this out, which should be obvious to everyone by now. But also that Geithner and Summers are too invested with their friends to do their jobs, with the Obama administration covering for both of these guys.
So anyone interested in the A.I.G. bonus debacle needs to watch the clip of Maria Bartiromo on “Morning Joe” yesterday morning. (I know, she gets things wrong, but trust me on this one.) Do yourself a favor and watch it all. Bartiromo starts with “a contract is a contract,” then goes to strings should have been attached and “some kind of a deadline in place,” and ends with saying the people in the financial products division should be “paying for the mess that they got (A.I.G.) into,” and that their bonuses “should not be paid out.”
Ms. Bartiromo also talks about the “counter parties,” like Goldman Sachs who got the largest amount of the latest A.I.G. money paid out. Do some homework and answer this question: What group came from GS? It got a lot of coverage when it was all going down.
The systemic risk is how we got into this, allowing A.I.G. to get “too big to fail,” as the talking point goes, because too many counter parties would be taken down with them, which would in turn take everything else down as well. Sounds like an anti-trust issue to me, but no one has the spine for it.
But the other issue is that this notion that nobody knew what was going on is a lie being passed along because no one wants to be held accountable or hold anyone accountable. But more importantly because few people, especially in Congress, understand it all. That’s what the people at Treasury are counting on. If this sounds familiar it should. Financial ignorance is how Madoff got away with his fraud for so long.
Oh, and by the way, the lie that it’s all Chris Dodd’s fault is a product of the wingnuts finding a vulnerable politician and going after him. See Jane Hamsher’s post, as well as Glenn Greenwald’s on this issue, because right-wing radio is going to go nuts over Dodd, who has become the sacrificial pol, because the Obama administration is hanging Dodd out to dry to cover for Treasury.
And again, the other reality is that Congress doesn’t know what they’re doing now and doesn’t understand what happened, partly because the financial whizzes that came up with these schemes are smarter than the people regulating them, as well as the people crafting the laws they have to live by. Not so Geithner, who is really in trouble at this point, which is going to make things very sticky for President Obama.
… But Geithner’s indulgence of bankers’ indulgences is fast becoming the Obama administration’s Achilles’ heel. The AIG debacle is the latest in a series of bewildering Geithner decisions that threaten to undermine the administration’s efforts to restart the economy. So long as it’s Be Kind to Bankers Week at Treasury — and we’ve had eight straight such weeks since the president was inaugurated — American banking, and the economy it is supposed to serve, will remain paralyzed. The Geithner plan to restart the banks provides huge taxpayer subsidies to hedge funds, investment banks and private equity companies to buy the banks’ toxic assets without really having to assume the risk. That’s right — the same Wall Street wizards who got us into this mess, using the same securitization techniques that built mountains of debt within a shadow financial system that remains unregulated, are the saviors whom Geithner has anointed to extricate us — with our capital, not theirs — from the mess that they created. [...]
The Obama administration better get up to speed on this and do a much better job at figuring a way through it, because as this whole story unfolds further they’re going to have no cover at all.
In Honor of Irish
According to my courageous mother, long ago passed, I’ve got quite a bit of Irish blood running through my veins. Irish-Scots mutt is more like it, because we can’t trace it fully for many reasons. But on St. Patrick’s Day I always honor her, our heritage and the stories she told me; most haunting, even dark messages of the challenges living brings and that life is rarely fair. That we lived. The curse of the black Irish, as it were. But life is still grand and worth celebrating, because it’s the journey that makes us who we are.
It’s perhaps this brooding, private nature of those of us blessed with the Irish that inspires us to put such unbridled zest into life’s festivities when they happen.
So on this St. Patrick’s night it is an Irish blessing offered. Down a mug of ale (or your drink of choice), and celebrate tonight… in honor of every moment of life well lived.
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children’s children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
Cuomo: ‘A.I.G. made more than 73 millionaires’
Goolsbee delivered terrific soundbite TV yesterday on “Hardball.”
Andrew Ross Sorkin was on “Morning Joe” where he was just an incoherent as he is here.
Cue the Santelli tape.
A.G. Cuomo makes his case. (I’ll put Cuomo’s deadline letter up if you all haven’t seen it yet.)
“A.I.G. made more than 73 millionaires in the unit which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout,” Mr. Cuomo wrote in the letter. “Something is deeply wrong with this outcome.”
Here’s something neither Obama nor Grassley answered in their bellicose remarks Monday: Why did it take so long for the president and senior lawmakers to get so worked up? More troubling, why did it take so long for them to discover AIG planned to give huge bonuses in the first place?
Oh, and Fox apologizes for screwing up the Biden economy clip time line.
But it was today during the White House briefing that Jake Tapper really tried to nail Robert Gibbs on the A.I.G. bonus issue and the time line of when they knew about them. It was close to painful to watch Gibbs as he tried to offer Tim Geithner some cover, while clearly not being prepared to answer something the White House hasn’t worked out yet. Expect much more on this one.
Chuck Todd Needs Smelling Salts
Just think if Josh Marshall had gotten his wish and Chuck Todd had gotten the nod to host “Meet the Press.” We’d be getting Todd’s non-stop drivel like what was offered this morning on “First Read”:
Is Robert Gibbs’ open disdain for Cheney acceptable to a president who promised to move beyond petty political squabbling?
With this type of analysis coming from NBC’s “political director,” you’ve got to wonder how he got the job in the first place.
But like I said last night, the traditionalists were going to hit Gibbs for attacking the office of the vice president, even if that’s not what he did. Instead, Gibbs went right for the man himself.
Unfortunately, Mr. Todd doesn’t get the distinction and also misses the analysis by a mile. It has nothing to do with “promises to move beyond petty political squabbling,” but does represent a White House that is not beyond taking it to Vice President Cheney personally when he’s so blunt as to say the new President is compromising American safety. At the nut of Cheney’s remark is a treasonous charge, because the commander in chief is obligated by sworn oath to protect this country and the citizenry above all other duties.
Whether it was effective for Gibbs to equate Cheney with Limbaugh and the “Republican cabal” is another point entirely. I would have preferred something to the effect, After we’re done cleaning up after the previous Administration, maybe I’ll have time to comment. Elevate the Obama adminstration’s role and challenges, but also their position, especially as compared to Dick Cheney who’s not only out of office but went out of favor a long time ago. Don’t get down into the Limbaugh mud with Mr. Cheney, even if it’s an easy, quick shot.
But Gibbs’ response does prove that the Rush vein of criticism isn’t going away any time soon.
Bibi’s NSA Barred From U.S. – Will it Stick?
Well, well, well, yet another report about Uzi Arad being denied entry into the United States, which is really going to throw a wrench into Mr. Netanyahu’s plans if it sticks, though I doubt it will, frankly.
Uzi Arad, who is expected to serve as national security adviser in the next Israeli government, has been barred from entering the United States for nearly two years on the grounds that he is an intelligence risk.
Jeff Stein reported on this earlier in March, when Clinton was in the Middle East, which, as far as I’m aware, was one of the first times Uzi Arad was seen by Bibi’s side after the election.
Arad is a former Mossad director, and is wound up in the Lawrence Franklin espionage case that involved AIPAC, which is the foundation for the U.S. position.
That is, as it stands now. Let’s call this one developing, because I really don’t think it will stick.
Busy China
James Fallows presents one view of China in the Atlantic that ties into what’s going on right now.
Idle factories, moored container ships, widespread bankruptcies, massive migration back to the hinterlands, strangely clean air—the signs of depression are everywhere in China. Because it makes so many of the goods the world isn’t buying now, China stands to be worse hit than the rest of the world —just as America was during the Depression, when it was the world’s sweatshop. But like America then, China will use tough times to design innovative products that will get it the high profits and the high-value jobs Americans kept to themselves for decades. And that is very bad news for the United States, unless it uses tough times to reinvent itself, too. [...]
Segue to the Washington Post
…On Saturday, Iran announced that it had signed a $3.2 billion agreement with a Chinese consortium to develop an area beneath the Persian Gulf seabed that is believed to hold about 8 percent of the world’s reserves of natural gas.
Even as global financial flows have slowed sharply overall, China has dramatically stepped up its outbound investment. In 2008, its overseas mergers and acquisitions were worth $52.1 billion — a record, according to the research firm Dealogic. In January and February of this year, Chinese companies invested $16.3 billion abroad, meaning that if the pace holds, the total for 2009 could be nearly double last year’s.
Worldwide, the value of mergers and acquisitions transactions so far this year has dropped 35 percent to $384 billion. By comparison, the United States had $186.2 billion in outbound mergers and acquisitions in 2008 and Japan had $74.3 billion.
China’s state-run media outlets are calling the acquisition spree an opportunity that comes once in a hundred years, and analysts are drawing parallels to 1980s Japan.
“That China started investing or acquiring some overseas mineral resources companies with relatively low prices during the global economic crisis is quite a normal practice. Japan did the same thing in its prime development period, too,” said Xu Xiangchun, consulting director for Mysteel.com, a market research and analysis firm.
It’s not just Chinese corporations that are taking advantage of the economic crisis to help others while helping themselves.
The Chinese government also has come to the rescue of ailing countries, such as Jamaica and Pakistan, that it wants as allies, extending generous loans. Even Chinese consumers are taking their money abroad. In a shopping trip last month organized by an online real estate brokerage, a group of 50 individual investors from China traveled to New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco to purchase homes at prices that have crashed since the subprime crisis. [...]
China’s very busy. Remains to be seen what President Obama’s response will be.
“… the path embarked on by China is one of peaceful development…” – Wen Jiabao
“To be honest, we are a little bit worried,” Wen said, speaking at the closing press conference of China’s annual legislative session. “We have loaned huge amounts of money to the United States, so of course, we have to be concerned. . . . We hope the United States honors its word and ensures the safety of Chinese assets.” – LA Times
Political editorial art, by Paul Szep, used by permission.
U.S. Military Confirms Iranian Drone Downed
First reported by Danger Room, the story has been confirmed.
Multi-national Forces – Iraq spokesman Col. Scott Maw tells Danger Room that coalition fighters intercepted an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle over Iraqi airspace on Feb. 25. The UAV, an Ababil-3 (pictured here), was “tracked as it crossed the border.” Coalition aircraft were sent up to visually I.D. the drone. Finally, after an “hour and ten minutes,” they did, and then shot it down “over 25 miles from the Iraq-Iran border.” All told, the UAV was tracked “for an hour and ten minutes before it was shot down.”
Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Mohammed Jassim, head of military operations at the Iraqi Defense Ministry, also confirmed the incident, telling Reuters: “An unmanned Iranian plane crossed the border and it was discovered by multi-national forces’ radar. They intercepted it and brought it down … an American plane brought it down.” According to Jassim, the incursion was most likely a “mistake.”
No doubt this will give Netanyahu another point to his Iran threat platform; something to wave in front of the U.S., as he did with Secretary Clinton on her visit to the Middle East.
An Israeli diplomat apprised of Clinton’s recent Jerusalem meeting said that Netanyahu was forthright in telling her that Iran is his top priority.
“Netanyahu brought up Iran,” the Israeli diplomat told Foreign Policy. “He told her it was the be all and end all. And [he said] that there is a reverse link: If [Washington] wants anything to move on the Palestinian front, we need to take head on the Iranian threat, diplomatically, with sanctions, and beyond that.”
Clinton responded, “I am aware of that,” the Israeli diplomat relayed.
Iran is simply not the issue for the U.S. it is for Israel, at least not in the way Israel sees it. Who’s going to tell Bibi?
On Contracts, Talk to the Unions
BREAKING: “…PURSUE EVERY LEGAL AVENUE TO BLOCK THESE BONUSES” – President Obama
Someone needs to tell President Obama that if he doesn’t quit campaigning and start holding someone accountable for the financial mess we’re in, instead of handing out economic lottery checks, he’s going to get this whole thing hung around his neck.
It’s time for Obama’s steel in the spine moment.
When President Kennedy was faced with the steel crisis back in the 1960s, he took on the industry.
Certainly this is different, but President Obama needs to take on the AIG bonus issue and the preposterous notion that the bonuses cannot be legally withheld and he needs to do it himself. Now, I understand this whole thing germinated from an arcane Federal Reserve clause, but I’m sick to death of hearing from the “outraged” Timmy, Larry, Ben coalition, while no one is doing anything concrete to mitigate the building outrage. Via CBS:
But Summers also said that “you can’t govern out of anger” and that the government doesn’t have the power to stop bonuses from being paid out under existing contracts.
“If we simply throw up our hands, refuse to deal with any of this, we’ll have the kind of financial catastrophe that we saw after what happened at Lehman Brothers,” Summers said. “[Treasury] Secretary Geithner has negotiated very forcefully with AIG. He has done everything that is legally permissible for the government to do to limit the payment of bonuses. But where there are contracts, binding contracts that were entered into long before the government put any money in to AIG — we’re not a country where contracts just get abrogated willy-nilly.”
Binding contracts? Is he kidding? Unfortunately, no. Read Greenwald, then tell it to the unions.
According to CBS, the Obama administration is now seeking “mechanisms” to recoup the AIG bonus money. How about getting in their face, Mr. President, you know, with actual consequences?
Political editorial art, by Paul Szep, used by permission.
