America’s covert war in Iran
Many people have warned that America is edging closer to war with Iran. Of course, they are wrong. America is already at war with Iran. Sanctions are an act of war. Moreover, America is waging a covert war on Iran, according to a report by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh. Hersh says that the CIA is trying to destabilise the Iranian government:
ONE OF America’s foremost foreign affairs reporters, Seymour Hersh, has claimed America is running a covert operation into Iran, funded by $US400 million ($A414 million) siphoned from other programs, with authorisation from Democratic congressional leaders.
Such covert operations are a breach of national sovereignty. They also violate US law. But should we believe Hersh, or should we be sceptical? Scepticism is always healthy, but in this case the CIA’s historical role in carrying out political assassinations and military coups makes it almost certain that Hersh’s claims are accurate. Greg Sheridan, foreign policy analyst at The Australian, agrees.
Imperial power strikes again
For those who don’t follow foreign affairs, here’s the news on America’s latest invasion. This time America has invaded the sovereignty of Pakistan, a state with nuclear weapons. It’s worth noting that this move is inspired by Barack Obama’s foreign policy (isn’t he supposed to be about “change”?). I suppose it just reinforces the point that neo-conservativism is now a bipartisan policy – most Democrats and Republicans are in favour of military interventions.
Thanks to the constant “threat-mentality” prevalent in the United States, those who advocate peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations are dubbed the “fringe” and are outside mainstream discourse. There are only two political groupings that have consistently supported fewer wars: libertarians and Marxists. An odd alliance, but a necessary one if we are to prevent further needless deaths.
Regarding Pakistan’s nukes, James Ostrowski had this to say: “The U. S. attacked Pakistan the other day. Remember when George Bush didn’t know much about Pakistan? I wonder if he knows that Pakistan has nuclear weapons. On the other hand, if you have nukes but do nothing when another government attacks, maybe those weapons aren’t worth very much”.
Will Kevin Rudd allow death with dignity?
Angelique Flowers
From The Age;
She suffered the bowel obstruction she had feared and died on August 19.
Her older brother Damian, 34, was with her, and believes she was still in pain despite massive doses of morphine and other painkillers. In her last hour, he held a bowl under his sister’s chin as she vomited faecal matter.
“The peaceful ending wasn’t there,” he told The Age. “From the death she could have had, taking the Nembutal, saying her goodbyes to friends and family, having everyone there for her and being where she wanted to be, compared to what she did actually go through, it just doesn’t bear imagining.
She hoped that Kevin Rudd would allow the legalisation of euthanasia in the ACT and Northern Territory. What about it Kevin? Why the delay?
Who Will Save Lehman?
Folks, this is getting serious
The share price of US investment bank, Lehman Brothers, has fallen over 90% this year. Its bonds are trading at 65 cents on the $$. It has almost no chance of remaining as an independent company. Banks only remain in business if counterparties have confidence in their long term survival. Most people now doubt whether Lehman will even last the week.
So why is the fate of Lehman important and what to do?
A necessary but painful part of capitalism is the demise of individual businesses, even those that have been around for 150 years. Far from being ‘failings of capitalism’ as many cerebrally-challenged left-liberal writers gleefully point out, recessions can be thought of as forest fires, laying the foundations for a more productive future. I still believe the Fed was right to engineer an orderly liquidation of Bear Stearns (though the level of state aid provided to JPM was unacceptably high). Lehman is even more central to the global financial system. The key is to find an orderly way to unwind all of Lehman’s counterparty trades whilst liquidating the rest of the company.
The alternative is for the Fed to engineer another Bear Stearns-like takeover, whereby a strong US bank would buy Lehman for a nominal price (say $1 a share) and the Fed would guarantee a huge chunk of its ‘black hole’ assets. However, the big banks are tripping over each other to rule themselves out. Over the weekend, the last two remainaing hopefuls (Barclays and BoA) both walked away. The sticking point is said to be Lehman’s book of ‘hard-to-value’ mortgage assets. Apparently Barclays were seeking Fed guarantees for the lot ($85bn) but Paulson, still under fire for his lavish guarantees of taxpayer money to JPMorgan, refused to write any cheques.
It’s not clear how this will end but either way it’s going to be very very messy.
Update 1
An incredible day on Wall Street. Merrill Lynch, on hearing that a Lehman deal had failed, immediately agreed to a takeover from Bank of America – “better to save the relatively healthy patient instead of the dying one”, according to a source close to the transaction.
Lehman still without a bidder and S&P futures trading down 4%.
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