Responding To The Taliban, The Next War? A Currency Conflict

September 29th, 2010 - by: danny

SAT: IN WASHINGTON COVERING THE ONE NATION MARCH

I am interviewed on RT on Media Coverage of Coup Attempt in Ecuador

Some news: Behind the Maliki “victory” in Iraq

Juan Cole: Iran Wins Iraqi Elections

LISTEN TO FRIDAY’S NEWS DISSECTOR RADIO SHOW ON THE PROGRESIVERADIONETWORK.COM

WATCH: FLORIDA REP. ALAN GRAYSON EXPLAINS THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS

COUP ALERT IN ECUADOR: President Reportedly Defies Military, Defeats Coup. For Now. Real News Reports:

RT: WATCH MY COMMENT ON NEW SURVEY SHOWING RISE IN DISSASTISFACTION WITH THE MEDIA

Responding to Facebook Friend Controversy

WHEN THE TALIBAN CALLS, SHOULD YOU TAKE IT?
How can we cover a war when we only cover one side? Shoud I Friend “The Enemy?”

By Danny Schechter

There is a saying I may be twisting in the retelling to the effect of what you do unto others will be done onto you. In Karmic terms, it boils down to what goes around cones around. These thoughts come to mind as I wrestle with a dilemma that seems to be worming its way out of the soil of a country at war overseas and with itself.

Earlier this week, I received a friend request on Facebook from one Abdullah Musafir. He wrote he was from the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. His wall was filled with Islamic proverbs and reports on the killing of Western forces and battles with “cowardly terrorists,” i.e., NATO, Afghan soldiers and US Troops. There were reference to the destruction of “puppet” police vehicles and the use of IEDs.

Clearly it was Taliban propaganda, a side of the war we rarely get in any unfiltered form, as opposed to our propaganda that routinely comes our way on TV and in the press. Theirs is crude; ours is much slicker.

Yes, there are also some excellent and gutsy US correspondents there who try to tell the truth, and that truth seems to be we are not winning, which is a way of saying, without saying, that we are losing.

When reports from the battlefield appear in the print press, there is usually some background like reports that military units worry about hostility from the people they are ostensibly there to defend. (Over 80′s of Afghans surveyed BEFORE the ongoing Khandahar surge were against it!)

General Petraeus speaks of facing an “industrial strength insurgency.” He is reported to be welcoming reports that Taliban commanders want to talk with our Karzai regime. That is supposedly a good thing, maybe the only way out in Afghanistan. (Of course, we want them to talk only on our terms as in lay down your arms, pledge loyalty to Karzai’s corrupt government, and then, and only then, can we talk. This is, of course, a non-starter especially when you are on the defensive.)

Now Karzai has handpicked a 70 person “peace panel” stacked with anti-Taliban personalities. Independent Afghan analyst Maritine van Bijlert believes it will go nowhere, saying, “He is not interested in substantial talks.” That is no doubt why Washington is supporting this phony “initiative.”

At the same time, our corporate media just regurgitates the one-sided poop we have come to expect. You never hear from the other side or even international observers who are not gung-ho US backers. As Fairness And Accuracy (FAIR) points out, “The escalation of the war in Afghanistan is treated as something that cannot be debated (see the Sunday chat shows) or as the only thing that might save the women of that country (see Time magazine’s recent propagandistic cover).”

When these same stories appear on TV, they become classic “bang-bang” war coverage of US troops shooting at the enemy and fighting bravely, The assessments of their performance often lacks background and context. One Afghan province looks like another. Our atrocities are rarely reported.

The assumption seems to be that if get information from the enemy”, you become the enemy. Huh? Two Al Jazeera journalists were recently jailed for talking to the other side – but then released. This shows the information control focus that is part of their “Perception Management” strategy. It is not working with 60% of the American public now opposing the war.

Even as the Obama Administration expands the use of brutal drone attacks that so often kill civilians, over Pakistani objections, and Petraeus threatens to expand the war into Cambodia, oops, Pakistan, without Congressional approval, it’s dÃƒÂ©jÃƒÂ vu Vietnam-like morass all over again.

But does that mean that American journalists like myself shouldn’t talk with or write to or even “friend” someone on the other side? I recently asked this question on my FaceBook “wall” seeking advice from the people who have opted to “follow me.” (We all know this more a toy than a platform for real friends,)

I was amazed when my request for advice triggered 58 comments. Many were genuinely concerned about my safety. Some thought I was going there, Others worried that it could lead to an outrageous FBI raid, as are taking place in the Mid-West, or being put on the No Fly List. One suggested I would be in Gitmo by Christmas.

Apparently, guilt by association is alive and well. You can easily become an enemy if you have the wrong friends.

Many counseled that we have no real online privacy especially with the Obama Administration threatening to monitor, and, when think necessary, shut down the Internet. (Wasn’t Joe Lieberman the first to recommend the practice already followed in China and other countries?)

This paranoia and blow against freedom is being fed by what Political Scientist Michael Brenner calls a “phony war,” writing,

“Warnings are sounding about the growing menace to the U.S. homeland from “homegrown terrorism.” A recent Congressional Research Service purporting to quantify that increased risk has created a stir. All this angst needs to be placed in dispassionate perspective. America stills lives in an acutely anxious post-9/11 stateÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

“My personal judgment is that the war on terror, on balance, has had two dire effects: one, we are less safe as a consequence due to the great number of persons that our actions have recruited and motivated to support terrorist acts against the United States; and, two, we have seriously weakened our civil liberties.

“Moreover, the number of persons and institutions with vested interests in keeping the terrorism industry thriving ensures that these costs will mount over time.”

I keep thinking of a book written about Saddam’s Iraq called “Republic of Fear.” That title could be applied to a book about the USA today.

So what to do about Abdullah, the holy warrior in Afghanistan and a wannabe “friend?” Is even looking at his post the equivalent of viewing porn yet? If I friend him does that make me a Taliban supporter

I decided to write him to tell him that rather than become “friends,” he could send me his “news” via email and so, he will be in the company of so many others like Newt Gingrich, the Tea Party, The Repugs, The Minutemen, The Birthers, The Birchers, The Israeli hardliners, the Mosque Marauders et.al. who just love to inundate/litter my in-box with their “urgent communiques” forcing me to waste time hitting delete.

He wrote back inviting me to visit their website, but warned that it is often hacked. I wonder who would have the means and the motive to do that?

Fascinating that this should occur as the new Facebook Movie opens nationwide.

I don’t have to see it. I am living it.

News Dissector Danny Schechter wrote When News Lies (2006) about media complicity and the war in Iraq. His film WMD (Weapons of Mass Deception) covered that coverage. Comments to dissector@mediachannel.org

FINANCIAL TIMES ON “THE SOCIAL NETWORK,” THE FACEBOOK MOVIE

OTHER PERSPECTIVES ON THE AFGHAN WAR

Here’s Abdullah’s view: Statement By The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Reaction of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to the Remarks of General Petraeus.

LETTER FROM TERRY HOVER WHO WAS RECENTLY IN AFGHANISTAN:

…. a female companion and I traveled overland from
Europe through Afghanistan (treated as welcome guests despite, or maybe
because, of our non-conforming dress, never a hint of danger or even
disdain), on to a hotel in Peshawer.

When there, the proprietor came to our rooms and asked us to stay out of
sight as a large PPP (? – recall is hazy) demo was approaching and,
being westerners, seeing us might lead to an attack on the hotel. OK,
rather a change of atmosphere, but ….

A little later he returned and asked if we would be interested in
talking with a young Afghan who was returning home to Afghanistan and we
said yes, of course. He had been orphaned in a bandit raid and
semi-adopted by British consulate (?) workers and received a good
education in English schools. He indicated he felt out of place, and
was returning once he had reached legal adulthood.

In recounting how he and we ended up then and there, he mentioned that
the killing of his family obligated him to kill the bandits, and that
although doing so was not the reason he returned, it was love of his
home land (two words), that meant that whatever he did, he would be
alert to anything that might help him fulfill that duty, doing that
which any decent and non-depraved human would know to be right and just.
It was not anger or vengeance, it was just a matter of being a good,
decent, self-respecting human being.

You can fill in the arguments against, but he taught me way more than I
realized at the time. I won’t try to summarize, but the reason I am
writing this is to suggest that if you engage Abdullah Musafir directly,
talk with him person to person. Both might gain, and you might get and
be able to share a deeper understanding of Afghanistan and that
conflict. Of course, he just might want to send his version of the RW
email BS nonsense that circulates over here, but if he does that, ask
him to talk person to person. Both will learn. In my example I sure
learned way more than I gave.

Best wishes, thanks for all you are doing, and the fact that you are
seen on FSTV, LINK, AJE but only very rarely and quite briefly on
corporate media does not change the fact that your insights and analyses
are making a difference. Thank you.

Terry Hover

Robert Gates: ‘We’re Not Ever Leaving’ Afghanistan By Marcus Baram

In a shocking indication of a split between the White House and the Pentagon over the war in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes that the U.S. military will never leave the war-torn country.

THE OTHER WAR WE ARE LIKELY TO LOSE

The economic war.

News in the FT: The US House of Representatives passed legislation that would punish China for undervaluing its currency and harming the competitiveness of US manufacturers and exporters, in a move that could heighten trade tensions between the two countries.”

China Reacts:

BEIJING Beijing warned Washington on Thursday that economic ties might be
damaged after American lawmakers escalated the conflict over China’s
currency controls, inching the two economic giants closer to a trade war.

The Commerce Ministry said a measure approved Wednesday by Congress to allow
Washington to penalize governments that manipulate exchange rates violated
free-trade rules. It gave no indication whether Beijing might retaliate,
though it has imposed antidumping duties in recent months on imports of U.S.
chicken, steel and nylon.

After years of friction, the bill is the first vote by American lawmakers
for measures to respond to complaints Beijing keeps its yuan also known as
the renminbi undervalued, giving its exporters an unfair price advantage
and costing U.S. jobs. Passage by a 348-79 margin in the House of
Representatives came ahead of November elections in which the economy and
9.6 percent unemployment are key voter concerns.

“This is a step toward a trade war,” said economist Dariusz Kowalczyk at
Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong. “It’s just one step, but it increases the
odds.”

So, as I feared, we may be on the threshold of a new war, a trade and currency war we cannot win.

Prodded by China bashing unions, and encouraged by some economists, they want a confrontation with China that may be a loose loose propsition even as it seems its all intended to boost US jobs:

Roger Oak makes the case against China”

“China’s currency is considered undervalued by 23%-40%. Economist Robert Scott estimates the United States will lose half a million jobs to China in 2010 alone. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute estimates China’s currency manipulation costs the United States 1.4 percentage points in GDP annually. Anyone reading this site knows in every trade report, China is by far the largest contributor to the U.S. trade deficit.”

But that is just one part of the story.

Brazil’s finance Minister Guido Mantega says “We’re in the midst of an international currency war, a general weakening of currency. This threatens us because it takes away our competitiveness.”

Martin Wolf writes in the Financial Times about a potential catstrophe if this war erupts.

‘”John Connally, Nixon’s secretary of the Treasury, famously told the Europeans that the dollar “is our currency, but your problem”. The Chinese respond in kind. In the absence of currency adjustments, we are seeing a form of monetary warfare: in effect, the US is seeking to inflate China, and China to deflate the US. Both sides are convinced they are right; neither is succeeding; and the rest of the world suffers.
It is not hard to see China’s point of view: it is desperate to avoid what it views as the dire fate of Japan after the Plaza accord. With export competitiveness damaged by its soaring currency and pressured by the US to reduce its current account surplus, Japan chose not the needed structural reforms, but a huge monetary expansion, instead. The consequent bubble helped deliver the “lost decade” of the 1990s. Once a world-beater, Japan fell into the doldrums. For China, self-evidently, any such outcome would be a catastrophe. At the same time, it is difficult to envisage a robust configuration of the world economy without large net capital flows from the high-income countries to the rest. Yet it is also hard to imagine that happening, on a sustainable basis, if the world’s biggest and most successful emerging economy is also its largest net exporter of capital.”

Asia Times asks “Who is The Currency Manipulator?

“Economic and financial uncertainty stand at unprecedented levels. In this climate, it will be difficult to predict how far gold will rise, how far the dollar might fall, and how far and how fast competitive devaluations could intensify? Will other major powers accept a deep appreciation of their currencies relative to the dollar, with the implied loss of competitiveness in export markets at a time of economic fragility?

The Fed is promoting speculation and economic conflict. Speculators are overwhelmed with cheap money and abundant liquidity to reap speculative profits. Such an unstable environment could be hardly conducive to investment, renewed hiring and job creation, and thus lasting economic growth. Thus far, only uncertainty, unemployment, economic stagnation and the fear of future inflation have been the end results of Fed policy. The fear of inflation and uncertainty has fueled the flight to safety, to gold. Central banks as well as investors, who have experienced persistent losses in the real value of their financial assets from rapid depreciation of reserve currencies, have little option but to run to gold.”

Earlier the AT explained that the Western view is not the only one:

“Western triumphalism in 2008 took a tumble as the West’s most sophisticated financial innovators led the world economy off a cliff. Meanwhile, China’s ham-fisted socialists saved China and, to a certain extent, the rest of the world with an enormous stimulus program (US$586 billion in domestic spending plus significantly relaxed limits on bank lending) that, as a ratio of the gross domestic products (GDP), dwarfed America’s stimulus spending by a factor of more than five.”

Rather than go on here, may I urge you to check out the many sides of this debate.

MORE ON THE CRISIS

I am still continuing to share important articles on the on-going financial crisis:

I chatted with economist Max Wolff about this issue. He says China’s Currency has a tougher impact on poorer country than it has on ours. He thinks China bashing is more about findimg some one else to blame for our own decisions.

Scott Thrill, Alternett: Corporations Scam Housing Market

NEW HARVARD REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF SUB PRIIME (SUB-CRIME) LENDING’

“Financial engineering on the capital markets, for its part, resulted in large amounts of non-prime securities receiving AAA ratings that increased demand for risky non-prime loans and kept credit flowing to them,” said the report. “And failures to adequately price and rate risk, align incentives and monitor counterparty risk effectively also contributed.”

FRAUDULENT FORECLOSURES RUNNING AMOK

HAITI: UN Wire: Haiti Reconstruction Stalls

Less than 15% of the reconstruction aid promised to Haiti by international donors for 2010-2011 has materialized, effectively stalling efforts by Haitian and development officials to push forward with large-scale rebuilding efforts. The U.S. has provided $1.1 billion in immediate earthquake relief, but the $1.15 billion American officials promised for long-term reconstruction funding has been held up by bureaucracy and political wrangling.

IMAGINE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN LENNON AT 70 (Vanity Fair)

I AIN’T MARCHING ANY MORE—Well, Maybe, this one last time

In Washington Saturday for the One Nation March For Jobs and Justice

And speaking of protests, Scott Schneider reports on one you may not have heard about:

“Yes.

American media conglomerates deliberately didn’t tell you, but it did happen:

10,000,000 workers participated in a general strike in Spain Sept. 29. It brought the country almost to a standstill, and would have ground it to a complete halt if the Unions had not complied with “minimal service agreements” worked out in advance with the govt.

No doubt a General Strike, even though mitigated and pre-announced, gives the USA and global predatory financial elite a shudder. An important first strategy is to neutralize reporting of the event – dilute, marginalize or ignore it out of existence.

Whether there will be follow-through from Spanish protesters that reverses govt. “austerity” programs or whether these actions are “safety valves” designed to let workers blow off steam, allowing them occasional catharsis while austerity measures are inevitably rammed down their throats, remains debatable.

It’s safe to say however that Spaniards, like their Greek and French counterparts clearly understand when the Power Elite is expropriating national wealth while impoverishing the general population, often by force.

Americans still do not get this. It remains doubtful they ever will.

The News Dissector