Serious Question

14 Comments

1. 

   Zandar1 on July 2, 2009 at 4:49 pm

   1. No oil,
   2. No branches of (INSERT ISLAMIST GROUP HERE),
   3. No current leader that was photographed shaking hands with any current Obama administration official after a major arms deal in the past,
   4. no real need to take land for military bases to go after any of the above problems in nearby countries to Honduras.

   So yeah, no real point in dropping hundreds of million of bucks worth of JDAMs.

2. 

   Oui on July 2, 2009 at 4:50 pm

   .
   a coalition of the willing with Hugo Chavez, serious Q?

   "But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."

   • 

     SFHawkguy on July 3, 2009 at 12:18 pm

     Ah, Obama vanquishes Chavez is a little too cute.

     The American media has failed miserably in this episode and I don’t trust these convenient narratives.

     First, we don’t know the U.S. wasn’t involved as Booman and you and the others are assuming.  We know the coup leaders were trained by the C.I.A. and in contact with the U.S. goverment.  The story the U.S. media is running with is the U.S. knew the coup plotters were up to something but didn’t approve was the same story the Bush administration gave about Venezuela.  It may be true or it may be cover.

     Second.  We will see how far Obama and the U.S. go in opposing this coup.  They haven’t withrawn diplomats.  My bet would be they will not impose sanctions or other harsh punishment as they do for the “undemocratic” regimes in Iran or Venezuela. The U.S. uses words like “democracy” and “dictator” very inconsistantly in this region.  Obama will get the best of both worlds if he “condemns” the coup yet learns to accept them and all the benefits they provide to U.S. business interests.

     Third.  I don’t trust the media.  The media uncritically put out the views of the military coup leaders.  One has to go to places like Booman’s friend at Narco News to get the straight dope.  Putting out false information and controlling the news during a coup has traditionally been done by and in the interest of the U.S. government-backed institutions (see e.g. Chile, Venezula).  The U.S. has a huge secret budget and explicitly uses propaganda and wages war via news.  Remember the Bush adminstration efforts in this regard and how progressives used to be against this (I’ve got some great quotes from Mark Twain if anyone wants to see how this was even going on in the beginnning of the 20th Century).  How do we know that the huge push in the Bush admnistration to wage a news war in the war on terror and to go to the “dark side” in our covert actions has not spread its tenatacles all over the world?

     I’m not saying the U.S. was involved here.  But I would not leap to the conclusion that it’s not involved (and we do know the U.S. trained these leaders in such things as coups and were in contact before the coup).  

     • 

       SFHawkguy on July 3, 2009 at 12:29 pm

       And I should add that it’s possible covert actions and the money and contacts put to use under the Bush administration are now bearing fruit against Obama’s wishes.

       I see the military and covert forces pushing for greater freedom to act in Somalia, the high seas, Georgia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, the Greater Middle East, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Latin America is on the list.

       Maybe the big story is the C.I.A. and other forces (the dark side unleashed by Cheney) are pushing Obama in a direction he doesn’t want to go.

3. 

   Teacher Toni on July 2, 2009 at 5:11 pm

   Bad taste left in the mouth after too much covert Latin American intervention in the 80s.

4. 

   DaveW on July 2, 2009 at 5:17 pm

   We got enough bananas awready.

5. 

   dada on July 2, 2009 at 5:37 pm

   no money.

6. 

   Ed J on July 2, 2009 at 6:37 pm
7. 

   epcraig on July 2, 2009 at 7:14 pm

   Maybe Obama feels Bush left enough on the plate.

8. 

   Errol on July 2, 2009 at 8:04 pm

   this is why we worked so hard to elect Obama

9. 

   boran2 on July 2, 2009 at 9:48 pm

   Maybe if Dick Cheney goes on MTP and alleges that Osama Bin Laden is there.

10. 

    on July 3, 2009 at 12:58 am

    Why would we invade Honduras? The general who staged the coup was trained at The School of the Americas.

    • 

      SFHawkguy on July 3, 2009 at 12:04 pm

      Right.  And why invade when you you can denounce the coup yet still benefit from the coup.

      The U.S. will probably slowly “accept” the new regime as the U.S. business interests surely already have.

      • 

        DaveW on July 3, 2009 at 2:36 pm

        Man — sometimes you make even me look like Mary Poppins. Thanks I guess.