Best of the Web

  • War Zones for July 8, 2009

    Compiled by Matthew Brett | July 8th 2009 | War Zones

    The bastard child of U.S./NATO forces, looked at with awe and confusion, Afghanistan is the war no one talks about. Canada played a leading role from the start. United States general David Petraeus, who coordinated the “surge” in Iraq and is now leading the war in Afghanistan, attended the Calgary Stampede this past Friday in a sign of allegiance with his northern partner. Petraeus was invited by Gen. Walter Natynczyk, Canada’s chief of defence — a position he was awarded for coordinating 35,000 American soldiers during Operation Iraqi Freedom. With the Obama “surge” in Afghanistan and Pakistan, there is a pressing need to understand precisely what is going on in the region.

    “Obama would do well to reflect upon the recent interview in Le Monde given by Gérard Chaliand,” writes Immanuel Wallerstein on the MRZine website. “Chaliand is a leading geostrategist, specializing in so-called irregular wars […] He is very clear on the military situation. ‘Victory is impossible in Afghanistan… . Today, one must try to negotiate. There is no other solution.’”

    The controversial views of Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid must confronted as well. “The US failure to destroy the al-Qaeda and Afghan Taliban leadership in the 2001 war that liberated Afghanistan allowed both groups to take up safe residence in the tribal badlands of the Federal Administered Tribal Areas that form a buffer zone between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Rashid writes in the New York Review of Books. “The insurgency in Pakistan is perhaps even more deadly than the one in Afghanistan.”

    With another volley of missiles from North Korea, some context is necessary. “The Pyongyang leadership seems to know something about US global policy that our own policymakers and pundits have overlooked,” writes author Michael Parenti. “In a word, the United States has never attacked or invaded any nation that has a nuclear arsenal.”

    The partial U.S. withdraw from Iraq also merits close attention. Despite president Obama’s claim that, “Nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past,” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes that “the only way we can regain our moral compass, not just for the sake of our position in the world, but for the sake of our own national conscience, is to investigate how that happened, and, if necessary, to prosecute those responsible.”

    “Ottawa’s hostility towards Zelaya is likely motivated by particular corporate interests and his support for the social transformation taking place across Latin America.” Yves Englar on Harper’s position on the military coup in Honduras.

  • Honduran Coup for July 7, 2009

    Compiled by Ben Wood | July 7th 2009 | Latin America and the Caribbean

    At the end of June, democratically elected president Manuel Zelaya was forced out of the country in the middle of the night by the military. The political and business elites, along with the military are now recognizing Roberto Micheletti, the President of Congress as interim President of the country.

    The military coup claims Zelaya’s proposed public poll that sought to ask the country whether or not to consider opening the constitution to revisions is a move towards a more despotic government. Critical commentators suggest the actual concern is that the President, who ran on a fairly conservative platform, has become increasingly committed to promoting human rights and reducing corporate control of the country (in short, social transformation), which the largely U.S.-trained military and the West see as a dangerous influence of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.

    Burbach provides a critical analysis of the recent events.

    Yves Englar suggests that Canada’s hesitation to denounce the coup is motivated by corporate interests that are at risk should Zelaya return to the country and resume his presidential rule.

    Kozloff explains how the coup in Honduras isn’t anything new — just another attempt of the “globalizing corporate elite” to try and prevent progressive reform and an increase in the quality of life for the citizens of a poor nation.

    An appeal for support by the co-founder of Global Exchange and CODEPINK:

    Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman talks with Andres Conteris about how media censorship in Honduras has forced journalists in hiding; the spreading violence in the country; and how the curfew imposed by the coup has limited citizens’ rights.

  • Afghanistan and Democracy for July 3, 2009

    Compiled by Ben Wood | July 3rd 2009 | USA Politics and Foreign Policy

    Obama’s plan for Afghanistan

    A recent face-to-face poll suggests that the majority of Afghans want peaceful negotiations with the Taliban.

    Despite these wishes, the first major strike in Afghanistan under Obama was launched this week and included sending nearly 4,000 US Marines and 650 Afghan forces into Helmand province. Obama has declared a plan to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq by August 2010, but it would appear he is not done with Afghanistan.

    At least new rules of engagement (oh, the euphemisms of war!) command troops to not to fire at the Taliban if there is any risk of civilian death or injury. Should this really be something new?

    Political theory and nationalist holidays

    More troubling than the deployment of more troops into Afghanistan is the lack of any clear goal. I would attribute this, at least in part, to a lack of proper understanding of democracy or any of the ideals Western troops attempt to spread. Not to mention, the whole concept of westernization. So, what better time to brush up on our political theory than the first week of July, where the numerous celebrations of nationalism afford us many opportunities to resubmit our allegiance and devotion to the state and the political system we know very little about. Len Krimerman on the dilemma of democracy:

    And with a nod to our Southern neighbours, here is an interesting essay on the revolutionary pamphleteer whose words are used and abused by many American politicians, most recently during Obama’s inaugural address earlier this year. But, can you blame any of them? Thomas Paine’s passionate prose is so convincing which politician wouldn’t want to borrow a couple of phrases in an attempt to reawaken even the smallest nationalist sentiment?

  • Canadiana for June 30, 2009

    Compiled by Andrea Levy | June 30th 2009 | Canadian Politics, Economy and Foreign Policy

    Dollars for destruction

    Having recently declared the estimated future cost of Canada’s participation in the Afghan war a secret matter of national security, the Department of Defence reversed itself, revealing a price tag for the war on Afghanistan that — surprise, surprise — far outstrips original expectations. The cost for 2009-10 is estimated at $1.513 billion, and at $1.468 billion for 2010-11, while total costs for the 2001-2011 period are estimated at $9 billion. Mike Blanchfield of Canwest News Service reports:

    No new nukes for Ontario

    The Ontario government will not be proceeding with plans to revamp and expand the nuclear energy sector, which accounts for half the province’s electricity needs. Here’s the Globe and Mail’s Karen Howlett with the story:

    Stanford vs. Swift

    It was a foregone conclusion that the financial crisis would be used as a pretext to attack what remains of the gains of organized labour. As billionaires are bailed out, the union-bashing, benefit-crushing chorus grows steadily louder. Last week, CBC radio’s The Current featured a debate between Canadian Auto Workers Union economist Jim Stanford and Canadian Federation of Independent Business President and CEO Catherine Swift about whether unions should be making greater concessions during the crisis. Listen to the argument:

    Not with a bang but a whimper?

    Karl Marx and Leo Panitch may be gracing the pages of the Globe and Mail these days, but the question remains: Where’s the rage? In face of an ecological crisis that threatens humankind’s very survival and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, serious political protest should be staging a major comeback. But in the overdeveloped countries of the North resistance seems in surprisingly short supply. The perplexing silence of the left is the stuff of recent columns by Murray Dobbin on Rabble:

    and Thomas Walkom of The Toronto Star:

  • Technology and Socialism for June 29th, 2009

    Compiled by Ben Wood | June 29th 2009 | Socialism

    The articles below contribute (some directly, others indirectly) to a dialogue questioning the role of new technologies and a reformation or redefinition of socialism. One needs to look no further than the relationship between Twitter and the Iranian elections to have reason for this debate. New technologies seem to depreciate faster than a used Pontiac Sunfire, so it is no doubt that Twitter cannot form the foundation of any kind of long-term social movement. Still, to embrace the moment — however short and temporary — when social networking technologies can become sites of resistance showcasing a plurality of voices is critical.

    Free As In Freedom

    An interesting piece on how the ‘digital generation’ is accustomed to free, open access to information, music, movies and each other, and as a result are unconsciously resisting corporate control of culture.

    The New Socialism

    This Wired feature comments on the influence of peer-to-peer file sharing, social networking sites and open source programs on the way with which we organize. Despite a misunderstanding of socialism (Kelly seems to conflate socialism with communism), this piece helps raise some important questions on whether or not new technologies can form the base of a new social movement.

    Twittering in Tehran

    These social networking sites also change how T.V. news and newspapers gather their stories, where they get their information and the angle from which they report. MacPhail is optimistic that the flood of tweets from Iran has changed the news media game: social capital has now replaced investment capital.

    You Provide the Tweets, We’ll Provide the Info War

    Bratich provides a critical reminder that the while the plethora of alternative voices via Twitter may help mainstream media break out of the incestuous, self-referential circle of ‘reliable, independent’ sources, we must continue to be just as objective with Tweets as we are with every other news source.

    The 18th Brumaire of Barack Obama

    Before we get too committed to the possibility of a digital revolution, we need to be reminded that there are issues outside a Facebook post that are renewing interest in socialist and Marxist thought. The Globe’s Ian Brown, with the help of Leo Panitch, discuss how the financial collapse has lead to a resurgence of interest in Marxism.

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Leo Panitch, professor, editor of The Socialist Register

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