Border politics
October 1, 2008
I supported Bush going into Afghanistan because I thought we were going to capture bin Laden and those responsible for 9/11.
But now I am worried when I hear Barack Obama and others talk about the infamous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. This border by all accounts is the headquarters for evil and apparently everyone knows it but I guess we need more than seven years to figure out how to maneuver those mountains. I have a problem with Obama’s hubris regarding the launching of targeted attacks against al-Qaeda and the Taliban if the Pakistan government is not cooperative. The problem with this logic is that it sounds reasonable on face value but if President Obama were to decide that the Pakistani government is not doing all it that it can to help root out bin Laden and company, he would have already the justification for launching full attacks against Pakistan. This is because there is not a large intellectual gap from not being cooperative to being part of the problem.
Bush had a tricky relationship with Pakistan’s former President Musharraff because Musharraff was a dictator that promised to help to the US in the so-called war on terror. Of course, we have little or nothing to show for it but now that the US doesn’t have to pretend to like Musharraff, there is a window of opportunity to do what the neocons probably wanted to do all along; maintain a significant troop presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This strategy ensures that America can keep a strategic base near China and Russia, further isolate Iran, and bolster the mutually assured destruction principle with respect to Israel.
I think Obama should not trade Iraq for Afghanistan. In Iraq, we were supposed to secure the weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist, and then it turned into a war against Iraq, and then we had to stay to catch the terrorists that migrated to Iraq, and now we have to stay in Iraq to not only rebuild the country, but establish a democracy. Senator Obama, I understood the Afghanistan theater to be focused on holding those responsible for the 9/11 attacks. We don’t need to occupy Afghanistan (like we are doing in Iraq) to achieve this goal. Let’s get back to basics.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
5 Reasons Why Barack Lost the 1st Debate
September 29, 2008
I co-hosted a Debate Party on Friday night that doubled as a Fundraiser for Barack Obama. The party was fun, the food was delicious, and the people I watched the debate with, including the Bus Chick & people from YES! Magazine and Reclaim the Media, couldn’t have been cooler.
What could have been better was my candidate’s performance. Here’s why this debate was a lost opportunity:
- Too much agreement
- Posturing on Pakistan & Afghanistan
- Nuclear Iran only posing a threat to Israel
- Iran’s army is a terrorist organization
- Venezuela is a rogue nation
(All the references I make here can be seen in the Debate Transcript, courtesy of the New York Times.)
Black youth say NO to Iraq
December 21, 2007
Cross-posted at the Brave New Films blog.
Black people have come up with a surefire way to end the occupation in Iraq [and Afghanistan, and pretty much everywhere that America has no business being]: stop enlisting! I am glad to see that so many brothers and sisters are seeing through the trumped-up incentives, increasd military advertising (why the hell does the military even have an ad budget???), and huge enlistment bonuses and understanding that there are other ways to achieve their goals [especially when the president's George W. Bush].
Barbara Lee shows why I love Black women
September 14, 2007
Because they often times have heart when no one else does.
What’s even more sad is that I know that none of the current presidential hopefuls would have the heart to do something like this.
One Love. One II.
Timeline to get out of Iraq
July 24, 2007
This is not a surprise by any means but Bush has a timeline for the Iraq catastrophe. There is a “classified plan, which represents the coordinated strategy of the top American commander and the American ambassador, calls for restoring security in local areas, including Baghdad, by the summer of 2008. ‘Sustainable security’ is to be established on a nationwide basis by the summer of 2009, according to American officials familiar with the document.”
Bring em’ home
July 20, 2007
If you find it hard to read the stories that detail the deaths of soldiers and civilians in Iraq, watch this video. Who in their right mind would continue to support this war? These are humans being sacrificed for perpetual lies. Thanks, Dailykos.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Wolfowitz the comedian
May 28, 2007
Now former World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz said of his departure, “People were reacting to a whole string of inaccurate statements and by the time we got to anything approximating accuracy the passions were around the bend.” That’s funny, as a major architect of the war, that seems to be the same strategy Wolfowitz used to push for war in
Once those lies were discredited, the Bush administration just came up with new reasons to stay like us having to stay in
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Martin Luther King Jr. and Vietnam
May 27, 2007
I am sending a huge and shout out to Jack and Jill Politics for featuring a video by Martin Luther King and his opposition to the war in
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Democrats blink
May 22, 2007
The Democrats in Congress acquiesced to Bush by agreeing to scuttle a timeline for withdrawing the troops. The bill does “include conditions prodding
Bush doesn’t like the troops, I don’t like Bush
May 18, 2007
I really, really don’t like this guy. Why do he and his political allies talk all this noise about “supporting the troops” when they treat them like the little green army men that small children play war with?
Case in point: Democrats today called for the President to support a compensation increase for the soldiers via The National Defense Authorization Act:
