Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label United Nations. Show all posts

Friday, November 19, 2021

Ending White Minority Rule Across America

The Donald Trump-inspired political phenomenon across America that seems to refuse to die down is not an attempt to take America to an era of white minority rule. America has always had white minority rule. It is an attempt to retain white minority rule when the demographics of the country, the economic growth happening across the world, and all-around political consciousness ask America to take yet another stride towards becoming a more perfect union. Democracy is one person one vote, no ifs, no buts about it. All human beings are created equal, white or not, American citizen or not.

But sometimes hubris takes over, like in the case of Brexit. A people refusing to let go of old attitudes, habits of mind that supported unequal structures of power will not hesitate to rob the next generation of its future. A significant proportion of the population across America right now is trying too hard to go the way of a Brexit. A country of immigrants wants to stench the flow of immigration. You might as well cut the oxygen supply.

To be fair, America has always been a messy democracy. All democracies are messy. When you let everyone speak, when you let everyone vote, you will likely end up with a cacophony. The political spectrum houses every zany idea that ever existed somewhere along its length. As someone said, the past is not even past.

Every great crisis is an opportunity. But then every great crisis is also a potential disaster. The political will has to be mustered not to keep America as the sole global superpower - that was never an ideal situation to begin with - but so as to optimize the lifestyle and living standards and spiritual well-being of current and future generations, in America as well as the world. America is still the leading nation, and its signals are still picked up around the world. Ask Bolsonaro.

China is obvious competition and a potential threat. China might have picked up the market to an extent in response to the implosion of the Soviet Union, but it still retains one party’s political monopoly. The godlessness that is at the core of the Chinese political system is the reason for its immense cruelties: organ harvesting of the Falun Gong practitioners, social engineering to turn Uighurs into Han Chinese, killing the hen that laid the golden egg, namely Hong Kong, saber-rattling in the skies of Taiwan, border disputes with pretty much every bordering nation large and small, and round-the-clock surveillance of the entire population. Always being watched robs you of your basic humanity.

But white supremacist tendencies in America are hardly godly. The black population might as well be American Uighurs. Too many Uighurs are in detention camps, too many blacks are in prison. China erased poverty, America is not even working on it. Crass wealth inequality, left on its current trajectory, will bring America down. America will go the way of the Soviet Union. It will implode.

America today is not a democracy, never has been. It is not a one-person, one-vote arrangement. America is not a free-market economy. There are too many entrenched pockets of uncompetitive terrains segment after segment, architected by bribing politicians. Money has deformed the political process. The vast majority are voiceless as evidenced by policy after sensible policy that falls on deaf ears in the corridors of power.

Perhaps what America needs is a constitutional convention, ala Philadelphia. Elected representatives from across the country should gather again for the sole purpose of writing a new constitution that would expire automatically in 50 years. That might be the only way to make sure winners of the popular vote do not routinely lose the presidential election, the Senate is not a House of Lords, under the grip of less than 20% of the population, the people elect politicians and it is not the other way round. America needs to make an attempt at one person one vote democracy. America needs to try and become a democracy.

A constitution is just the playground, the football field if you will. The game is political action. Voters asserting their rights, and that of others, realizing their responsibilities, leaders challenging as well as responding to an awakening population, robustly borrowing from imaginative academics and thinkers, idea people, and all collectively seizing the future for an unprecedented Age of Abundance that is already knocking on the door: that is the clarion call of the day. There are major reasons for optimism if only the moment will be seized.

Perhaps the president should be directly elected. Open primaries might be the antidote to shameless gerrymandering. No taxation without representation was right for Boston. It is right for DC and Puerto Rico. Maybe every state should get a minimum of one Senator, but above that it should be proportional to the population for a total of 200 Senators. A state like California might as well end up with 20 Senatorial districts, or 10 even if the Senate’s number is capped at the current 100. Non-citizen white immigrants voted. All immigrants should similarly get the right to vote, regardless of what papers they carry. If you pay a phone bill, you vote. If you pay the utility bill, you vote.

You can not have one person one vote democracy at the local level but have something else at the state level, or something else at the national level. Why stop at the national borders? It is high time for a world government that adheres to the basic principle of democracy, that of one person one vote. The global economy asks for a genuine world government. The five veto-wielding powers at the UN are a relic of World War II. Nobody alive today remembers World War II. The UN is the ultimate white minority rule. Four of the five veto faces are white. And all five are male.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

2016: The Year For Barack Obama's Revolution From The Top

2016: The Year For Barack Obama's Revolution From The Top



Barack Obama’s autobiography Dreams From My Father is full of little references to what Nelson Mandela in his autobiography called “a thousand little indignities.” But one was talking mostly about America, the other about apartheid South Africa. Can one black man’s ascension to the top make up for racist snarls at the highest levels of government like in the US Senate?

It is time we faced the fact the United Nations is not a world government. It is time to call a spade a spade. It is time to see this institution designed by the World War II victors no longer works. This is not a world government by the far stretches of the imagination. Often when we talk of civil rights movements, we think in terms of ordinary people marching out in the streets. But now is the time for a civil rights movement in which the heads of state march.

What we have is essentially apartheid. The leading country remains fundamentally racist, nowhere more evident than in the country’s criminal justice system. There is no world government. There is a need for one. The thorniest global problems, the loftiest trade deals are worked on outside the UN framework.

America itself needs to be reimagined if it is to fulfill its original mission of a total spread of democracy. It needs to become a country where African immigrants are as at home as European immigrants. White is black is white.

In a democracy you get to vote because you are a human being, not because you are literate or rich. But in the community of nations, there are countries that are rich and have guns, and most have neither. The entire continent of Africa stands disenfranchised. This landmass that is the most central of all, from where we all originated, is still in the clutches of a contemporary incarnation of colonization, slavery and apartheid. We don’t have a name for it yet, but the affliction is very real. Its poverty and disease stem from that disempowerment, not the other way round. And so, any voice that seeks to address its poverty and disease without taking stock of its disenfranchisement is shedding crocodile tears.

What is Barack Obama going to do? Leave the White House and do paid speeches? Write books? Launch a foundation? Raise money for AIDS? Share a stage or two with Bono and George Clooney? The guy is still young. This guy who has cleared up half century old cobwebs every year he has been in office is best suited to lead this revolution from the top. And this is not a cry for Africa, although Africa could use some empowerment. This is a cry for the world. Right now we are a species looking down a sinkhole of uncontrolled weather patterns that just might wipe out life and civilization as we know it. We still have immense poverty and disease that Bill Gates says “only a world government can solve,” and Gates is a guy who has thrown the kitchen sink at the problem, one of the leading entrepreneurs of the era in whose wake many billionaires have given money to fight basic poverty. We face security threats that no one government can solve. Globalization continues to move at breakneck speeds speeding up as the Internet takes deeper roots everywhere, but we have not done the task of institution building that that globalization requires.

Let’s open our eyes and take a look at the elephant in the room. Yes, what we need is a world government, and there is no person better than Barack Obama to take the lead on it. We are lucky we have a George Washington precisely when we need one. And lucky us that the guy is almost done with his current job where he has been stellar every year. Heads of state across the world should join in this chorus and shape this revolution from the top. Lucky us that our thorniest global problems have solutions in political concepts we have already designed, like one person one vote taken to its logical, global conclusion.

There is always inertia. Every monumental political change that in hindsight looks so obviously positive has faced inertia. And this likely will be no different. But the blueprint has to be made, and it has to be presented to ordinary peoples on all continents, so a groundswell of support can build around it.

We want to live in a world where human beings can feel equal everywhere. We want to live in a world with abundant clean energy. We want to live in a world with abundant water, and food and green space. We want clean air. We want to create the industries of tomorrow. We seek unprecedented rises in productivity, as well equitable distribution. We want people to be happy.

It is time the heads of state across the world came together and created the world’s first world government in the leadership of Barack Obama. In his birth as well as personality and outlook, he bridges the world. In his person the world has a chance to come together to reach new heights. This century can not only be the best ever, it can also be one where we have gone past our existential worries, where we have created a truly global civilization, one grand village where everyone can feel a sense of belonging everywhere, where people can take pride in their heritage and claim the common future at the same time, without hassle.

This is in essence a political struggle, where all you start with is a voice. Ordinary people have done it many times before. Heads of state can do it this one time.

It is still about Hope. It is still about Change.

We need a world government because it is time we established rule of law between nations. That is the civilized way.



राजेंद्र महतो लाई ICU पुर्याउने सरकार राजीनामा दे, काठमाण्डु छोड़, देश छोड़, ये धरती हमारी, ये मुल्क हमारा
E for Education, E for Entrepreneurship, E for Energy
Barack Obama: George Washington
आर्थिक क्रांतिका पाँच पाण्डव: सुशासन, शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य, संरचना, (उद्योगव्यापार) सुलभता
Barack Obama Is Biologically Superior
An Open Letter To Barack Obama

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

1,050 Indian Islamic Scholars And Clerics Against ISIS

Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Indian clerics issue fatwa againt ISIS, declare it un-Islamic
Over 1,050 Indian Islamic scholars and clerics have issued fatwa against the Islamic State terror group and described its acts and actions as against the basic tenets of Islam ..... "Islam shuns violence while Daesh perpetuates it," the edict said. ..... Abdul Rehman Anjari, president of the Mumbai's Islamic defence cyber cell, collected the edicts from Muslims scholars and leaders over the past few months. ....... These fatwas are in 15 volumes, and copies were sent to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and other leaders to convey Indian Muslims' views on IS activities....... It urged the international community to take immediate steps to eliminate this terror group that has caused mayhem in the region and is spreading its tentacles in the South Asian region. ..... The signatories to the fatwa include the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, head priests of Dargah Ajmer Sharief and Nizamuddin Aulia, functionaries of Mumbai's Raza Academy, Mumbai's Jamait Ulema and the Ulema Council. Hundreds of imams and various religious leaders have also endorsed it. ...... Anjari said muftis and imams of all sections and sects of Islam have condemned the activities of Daesh and acknowledged it has tarnished Islam's image. ..... The fatwa was issued at a time when reports say that Daesh mercenaries are trying to lure Indian youth to join them.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A Genuine World Government

World Government And Federal States
Does The World Government Have To Await A Total Spread Of Democracy?

The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights is a pretty amazing document, the Magna Carta of our times. I envision a world government that has two chambers. In the lower chamber's voting right is in direct proportion to a country's population. In the upper chamber each country's voting right is in direct proportion to its GDP. Each member country pays one per cent of its GDP as the price for membership in the world body. And this need not wait until every country has become a democracy. This, on the other hand, will expedite the spread of democracy. This also will bring about rule of law between nations just like there is rule of law within nations. That will make room for a dramatic downsizing of the US defense budget by over 90%. God knows America needs to pay down on its debt. And if that cut is spread over 10 years, it need not be painful. The resources can go elsewhere, like in the energy sector.

The right to self determination is as fundamental as the right to free speech, the freedom of religion. What that means is all peoples have a right to federalism, and federalism means you can vote to secede at any time. On the other hand, a country could also vote to join another country and become its newest state, granted that country's legislature's accepts. Mexico might choose to join America. Or not. Mexico might wish, America might not so desire. Nepal might choose to join India, as might Burma, perhaps Bangladesh.

The good news is, this might be the only way to tackle Climate Change and avert catastrophe. Unless humanity can create a genuine world government, that is a sign humanity can not come together even in the face of certain disaster.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

योग, हिंदी और भिटो पावर

मोदी का अंतर राष्ट्रिय योग Day वाला मुभ बहुत अच्छा रहा। आजका जमाना है, विश्व शक्ति बनना है तो सॉफ्ट पावर के बल पर बनो। दो शक्ति के पास nuclear पावर है तो दोनों में traditional लड़ाई तो होगी नहीं। Under those circumstances if and when the war might go hot, you strike with a small group of super trained people in a clear, short, surgical operation. You are in and out. But those are limited, rare moves.

UN में भारत को भिटो पावर मिलना चाहिए ----- इस बात पर अमरीका भी तैयार, चीन भी तैयार ----- मौसी भी तैयार, बसंती भी तैयार। मेरे विचार में भिटो पावर से भी ज्यादा मायने रखेगी हिंदी को UN का छठा भाषा बनवाना। Bollywood को चार चाँद लग जाये। वैसे भी Google पुरे इंटरनेट को हिंदी में मशीन से अनुवाद कराने के उपाय ढूँढ रहा है।



Democracy और Development और moDi का D ---------- three Ds जैसे कि मोदी बोलेंगे। Democracy and Development are export items. Democracy export करने के नाम पर अमेरिका से गहरा अलायन्स बनाओ। Development export करने के नाम पर चीनसे गहरा अलायन्स बनाओ। चीन के साथ झगड़ा थोड़े करना है --- थोड़ा मोड़ा posturing करनी है इधर उधर। चिनिया लोग बहुत pragmatic तरीके से सरकार चलाते आए हैं। उनको सब से ज्यादा जो चीज चाहिए वो है trade ------ झगड़ा करने को वो लोग कहते हैं waste है। बेकारकी फ़ालतु चीज।

Monday, October 01, 2012

The Debates

Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
October 3 at 9:00 p.m. ET (Presidential)
October 11 at 9:00 p.m. ET (Vice Presidential)
October 16 at 9:00 p.m. ET (Presidential)
October 22 at 9:00 p.m. ET (Presidential)

Watch on YouTube.

Ex-wrestler props up India's PM, but he may want the job
GOP bid to retake Senate looks good in homestretch
Maverick Mamata Puts An End To UPA-II Stability
Thunder From The East Call Him Swami Modi
PM Meets With President To Discuss Political Situation As Talks Of Reshuffle In Ministry Rages On Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Recites Om Shanti To Convey Message Of Peace At United Nations
Re-rise Of Rupee Likely To Continue On Reform Hopes, Capital Inflows
Muslim Rage: Why they won’t calm down
Xi Jinping: Back in the frame
Mitt Romney's problems: Elite defection
Indian reform: At last Politics in India: Sister sledgehammer
The war in Syria: Death from the skies
Meddling at their peril
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Monday, April 04, 2011

To Zimbabwe Through Ivory Coast

Laurent Gbagbo, Président de la République (Cô...Image via Wikipedia
New York Times: U.N. and France Strike Leader’s Forces in Ivory Coast: The United Nations and France went on the offensive Monday against Ivory Coast’s strongman, Laurent Gbagbo, striking his forces in a significant ratcheting-up of the months-long campaign to force him to cede power. ..... France, which has over 1,500 troops stationed in the former colony, announced that it would carry out attacks on Mr. Gbagbo’s military hardware at the request of the United Nations, joining an operation “aimed at neutralizing heavy weapons that are used against the civilian population and United Nations personnel in Abidjan,” a statement from the French presidency said..... Mig-24 helicopters had been deployed against Gbagbo military bases to “render harmless” the mortar-launchers “that are firing” on the United Nations headquarters in Abidjan and on “the civilian population.” ..... Mr. Gbagbo has refused to step down after losing an election last November to Alassane Ouattara, who was recognized as the winner by international organizations. .... Gbagbo, a former university historian who has transformed himself into a hardline autocrat over the course of a long political career.
This was never just about Tunisia. Egypt was a huge victory, but it was never just about Egypt. This thing could really grow. I want Mugabe out. I am thinking China. I am thinking Russia.

The techies of the world have to aim for the Chinese firewall. There has got to be a way in. They have managed to block sites. But they can't take the internet down. So break in. Just do it.

This is about Syria, and Iran. This is about Jordan.

But the Arab world is not enough. This democracy wave has to also engulf Africa.

The Fuck With Mugabe

Libya was a major turning point. The world sent a clear message that when people peacefully protest they will be protected.
Official portrait of Vladimir PutinImage via Wikipedia
A Rwanda Was Prevented

When the Russian president reprimanded Putin that is when I knew this wave will also crash against the Russian shores. But Russia is a big country, and we will have to build plenty of momentum elsewhere. Elsewhere is the Arab world and Africa.

Reports signal growing rift between Russia’s governing duo
Russian President Criticizes Putin's Libya Remarks
Medvedev criticizes Putin over Libya remarks
Medvedev Criticizes Putin For Calling Libya Action Crusade
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Friday, April 01, 2011

Time For Nonviolent Protests In Libya

Muammar al-Gaddafi's signature.Image via WikipediaA Rwanda Was Prevented

The mass murder imminent in Benghazi was prevented. And the UN continues to demand of Gaddafi that he not unleash animal brutality on peacefully protesting Libyans. Armed rebels in Libya have done a swift job of retaking all the territory they had lost.

But now is time for some shift in strategy. Instead of relying solely on military advances, the rebels have to consolidate. They have to organize massive peaceful demonstrations against Gaddafi in all towns and cities they control. The people of Libya have to come out into the streets in large numbers.

The idea is to inspire the people in Tripoli to also come out into the streets. When they first came out, Gaddafi basically declared war on them. And they went into hiding. Now they have to muster the strength all over again. They need to come out all over again. This time if Gaddafi performs a repeat the UN sanctioned powers have to do in Tripoli what they did in Benghazi. Bomb all government installations in Tripoli so as to destroy completely all command and control structures in Gaddafi's army.

The next phase of the drive against dictator Gaddafi has to be nonviolent consolidation of gains made so far.

Ultimately It Is About Iran, Because That Is Where It All Started
Syria's Turn
The Anatomy Of Revolutions For Democracy
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Saturday, March 19, 2011

The Response To Benghazi Has To Be In Tripoli

Operation Enduring FreedomImage by US Army Korea - IMCOM via FlickrGaddafi not only did not respect the UN Security Council resolution, he lied about it first, then openly came out not only defying it, but also went on to threaten Europe. Attacking his troops that have encircled Benghazi is not sufficient. Because the orders are not coming from the outskirts of Benghazi. The orders for those military acts are coming from Tripoli. It is fundamentally important to destroy the command and control centers that are based in Tripoli. All that infrastructure that makes it possible for Gaddafi to make his ground maneuvers have to be destroyed.
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The Military Options








The no fly zone has been announced. If Gaddafi continues to fly planes, shoot them down. Bomb the airports that those planes came out of. Bomb the air bases. Bomb the control towers. Bomb the command center in Tripoli.

If you only bomb the planes in the sky, you are agreeing to play the cat and mouse game that Gaddafi wants to play with you. When he announced a ceasefire he lied. That was his way of saying just give me 48 more hours, and I will have Benghazi by then. Then there would be nothing for you to do.

This dude is not going to do the ceasefire thing. It is the nature of the beast.
Muammar al-Gaddafi Mouammar Kadhafi Colonel Qu...Image by Abode of Chaos via Flickr
You bomb the planes in the sky. And if there are reports - as there are - that he has, if anything, accelerated military action on the ground, then that would be a clear signal that he has not understood the concept of the no fly zone. The concept is to protect Libyan civilians. If he continues to attack civilians, you look for all movements on the ground by the Gaddafi forces, and you conduct aerial strikes upon them. There are open roads that his forces use. They are not hard to find. These are not exactly the jungles of Vietnam. There is nowhere to hide. This is a freaking desert. There are open skies.

But if there is action on the ground on his part, you attack his military establishments in Tripoli. You hit the core of his military organization. You hit the presidential palace, because that is where the orders are coming from.

All this until all military action on his part ceases, not very likely. Instead the guy is threatening to go into a whole different direction. He is threatening military action against France.

It is like this. A criminal with a gun is on rampage at a department store. The police decide to take action. When he is finally surrounded and it is decided gunning him down is the only way to end the rampage, he sends a message that he is going to come next for the police station - maybe he will blow up the building - if the police try to gun him down.

Do you weigh his words? Do you want to think if it is worth taking the chances? Or do you get further confirmed in your suspicious that what you are facing is a criminal?

Gaddafi has done what Bin Laden did not do. At least Bin Laden went into hiding before he started issuing his tireless fatwas. Gaddafi is issuing his threats against entire countries and he is doing it without going into hiding.

This guy is not the president of Libya. He has no formal title. By his own admission he has no claim to any kind of representation to Libyan sovereignty. This guy is a criminal first, last and foremost.

It is not Al Qaeda that took over Benghazi. The people who took over Benghazi are people who aspire to turn Libya into a modern democracy. I wish that upon all Arab countries.

The uprising in Benghazi was not violent. Gaddafi's army units in Benghazi defected. Can't blame them.
Muammar al-Gaddafi, pictured in 2009Image by BlatantNews.com via Flickr
The way this drama is going to end is this guy Gaddafi is going to commit suicide. As days have passed, he has become even less and less compromising. That is a warning sign. My judgment is he will kill as many people as possible before he will kill himself.

Exile is no longer an option for him. He has killed too many people. If he is captured alive, he gets to go to the International Criminal Court. But I doubt he will want to get captured alive.

The choice is between putting the mad dog to sleep and letting him kill a few thousand more people before he kills himself.

I wish it were otherwise. I wish he would do the ceasefire thing. That there would be no more attacks on civilians anywhere in Libya. Then the people of Libya would have the option to protest peacefully or keep him as their leader.

The international community does not have a democracy agenda. It is the Libyan people who have a democracy agenda. Liberty rings from within the human heart.

Christian Science Monitor: With Libya, is ‘Obama doctrine’ on war emerging?
New York Times: In Yemen, Opposition Encourages Protesters
BBC: French military jet opens fire in Libya
New York Times: Allies Open Push in Libya to Block Qaddafi Assaults
Voice Of America: Fresh Protests in Yemen Despite State of Emergency
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Thursday, March 03, 2011

Democracy With Lowest Possible Losses Of Human Lives

Muammar al-Gaddafi  Mouammar Kadhafi  _DDC6339Image by Abode of Chaos via FlickrThat is the goal. We want democracy. Everywhere. Because that is what people everywhere want. It comes from deep inside. Liberation is the lofty goal.

But there are mechanics involved. There are logistics involved. There are tactics involved.

Democracy can not come through US military invasions. That is the wrong kind. Democracy has to come because a people decided enough was enough, and took to the streets in large numbers.

Getting a people to come out into the streets is the hardest part of a democracy movement. But once that happens to let that go to waste is nothing less than criminal. Once a people come take to the streets, the entire world has to then pitch in.

I am okay with the idea of a constitutional monarchy, if that means a low loss of lives, and a peaceful, smooth transition. I am okay with that. I am not okay with that as a matter of principle. But I am okay with that as a matter of tactics.

When an autocratic regime sees seas of people out in the streets, its first reaction is to send the police out, send the army out. You throw tear gas at them. You shoot at them. You baton charge them. You round them up. You imprison them. You interrogate, you torture. And all that is wrong enough. But Gaddafi has gone way past that. He has gone after his own people like an invading army, fighter jets and all, and he has continued to reign like an occupying force. There a peacefully protesting people are no longer a match. You could not have expected those in the concentration camps to have fasted their way to life and freedom. Hitler needed a military response and he got one. The response to a Gaddafi is not a peacefully protesting people. It would be inhuman to expect that.

An exile for Gaddafi is an option. It would not be just. But it can be a sound tactical move to make. To bring the violence to an end, to bring an autocratic regime to an end. But that is not an option that can be suggested from outside. I said days ago this guy will commit suicide. He will not go into exile. It is a mindset thing.

The question for the rest of us is will we let this guy kill a few thousand people before he commits suicide? Or will we step in before he kills those people.

We have to step in.

Democracy is on the march worldwide. China itself is in sight. But the momentum could be broken in Libya. If this guy gets his way, the momentum might get broken. The momentum can not be allowed to be broken. This is not about Libya any more, if it ever was.

A victory for democracy in Libya has repurcussions for the entire region, and the world at large.

Any military action has to be sanctioned either by the UN or NATO. And it should not be about sending troops in. The rebel forces have plenty of boots on the ground. Decisive surgical strikes to decapitate the regime and disable the forces still loyal to Gaddafi might be enough to tilt the victory away from the mad man. Enforcing a no fly zone could help.

But the victory has to be swift, and all credit has to be given to the Libyan people. And we have to help them with the subsequent transition.

And then we have to focus on the next Libya, the next Egypt, the next Tunisia, for dictators and kings need to fall everywhere.

Washington Post: Obama signals willingness to intervene militarily in Libya if crisis worsens: "The region will be watching carefully to make sure we're on the right side of history," Obama said ...... As with Egypt and Tunisia, he said, U.S. interests were best served if the United States was not seen as engineering or imposing a particular outcome. ...... Having raised the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya and after moving warships into the Mediterranean, the United States and its allies appeared Thursday to step back from military intervention, even as opposition forces in Libya continued to call for assistance from foreign air power. ...... After their unexpected victory Wednesday over well-armed Gaddafi forces in the oil port of Brega, rebel fighters regrouped to bury their dead and to lay plans to carry the fight toward Tripoli, Libya's embattled capital. ..... Brega was hit Thursday by at least three powerful airstrikes, while rebels clashed with Gaddafi loyalists in the nearby Mediterranean town of Bishra. In Tripoli, there were signs of a government crackdown in an attempt to head off planned street protests after Friday prayers. ....... Activists in Benghazi, the eastern city that serves as the rebel capital, were calling for a million people to protest ....... the United States, Britain, France, Canada and others have indicated they would participate ...... The Obama administration and its European allies have indicated they would not act without authorization from the U.N. Security Council. ...... Arab and African governments have expressed serious reservations about granting the authority to use force, as has Russia. China's U.N. envoy, Li Baodong, told reporters Wednesday that Beijing wants the dispute to be resolved through dialogue. ...... "A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya." ...... On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch reported a missile strike, apparently aimed at rebels in a main square in Brega ...... In Rome, the World Food Program said that a ship carrying more than 1,000 metric tons of wheat flour to Benghazi had returned to port in Malta without unloading, after reports of aerial bombardments near the Libyan city.

Miami Herald: International court opens war-crimes probe of Gadhafi: a worrisome pattern of arrests and disappearances of suspected opponents of the regime, and there were reports that Egyptian and Tunisian migrants in Libya were being attacked by Gadhafi loyalists angry that the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt had inspired anti-Gadhafi protests there...... With Gadhafi's forces unable to recover key rebellious cities and towns, and with the ragtag rebel force of civilians and military defectors too weak and disorganized to advance on Gadhafi's Tripoli stronghold, the two-week conflict appeared to be devolving into a violent impasse...... Governments across the Middle East, meanwhile, braced for what were expected to be massive pro-reform protests after mosques empty on Friday, the Muslim day of prayer

Gaddafi Is No Simon Bolivar
No Fly Zone Or Surgical Strikes
If Gaddafi Is Not President, It Should Be Easier For Him To Leave
Sound Military Options
Nicaragua, Ortega On The Radar
Make Surgical Strikes, Take The Guy Out
Kick Ortega Out
The Fuck With Mugabe
The Chinese Communist Party Can Keep The Power If They Agree To Pluralism, Federalism
This Is Also About Women's Rights
The Saudi King Is No Exception, He Has To Go Too
Democracy: An Israeli Plot?
China: 2 PM, Sunday
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
Et Tu, China?
When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards
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Wednesday, March 02, 2011

If Gaddafi Is Not President, It Should Be Easier For Him To Leave

The leader de facto of Libya, Muammar al-Gaddafi.Image via WikipediaGaddafi has been responding to Barack's call for his resignation by saying he is not president, what office is he to resign from? Good, if you don't hold a political office, it should be easier for you to leave the country. Don't resign. Just leave.

You have committed crimes against humanity. If you are not president, chances are you are a warlord. Maybe you pretend to be some kind of a tribal leader. Whatever it is that you are, you need to get out of there. Leave the country.

The country wants to turn itself into a modern democracy. The country wants to get itself a proper constitution. The country wants to elect itself a proper president. You just leave. There are people waiting to greet you in The Hague.
Sound Military Options
Nicaragua, Ortega On The Radar
Make Surgical Strikes, Take The Guy Out
Kick Ortega Out
The Fuck With Mugabe
The Chinese Communist Party Can Keep The Power If They Agree To Pluralism, Federalism
This Is Also About Women's Rights
The Saudi King Is No Exception, He Has To Go Too
Democracy: An Israeli Plot?
China: 2 PM, Sunday
Bomb Gaddafi's Tent
Khameini, Gaddafi, Caecescu
Et Tu, China?
When They Open Fire
Iran: Brute Force Does Have An Answer
Iran, Bahrain and Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia
Arab Democracy: What The US Needs To Do: Stay Deeply Engaged
Arab Dictators Are Shaking
Egypt: A Revolution, Not A Reform Movement
How Many People Could Mubarak Kill?
Arab Dictators Will Fall Like A House Of Cards
Enhanced by Zemanta