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For a quick refresher:
The US has become adept at creating monsters. Osama bin Laden is only the latest in a long line of US-backed despots, dictators, and criminals against humanity. Too many times to count, the US has supplied the training and support to bring into power a leader who abuses human rights, traffics drugs, demolishes democracy, or commits massacres and genocide.
The official story is that the US -- usually through the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) -- has made a series of mistakes. Backing Saddam Hussein was a mistake. Backing Manuel Noriega was a mistake. Backing the Taliban was a mistake. The CIA took a chance on these guys, and the project backfired. There's even a word for it -- "blowback."
But the leaders in question hardly started out "good" and then "turned evil." Most of these leaders were corrupt, ruthless, anti-democratic, and murderous long before they bit the US hand that fed them. Often, it was this very behavior which made them suitable candidates for support. US backing only stopped when the leader was no longer useful in achieving US aims or became "disobedient."
The stories of these infamous leaders are often surprising and always disturbing, and they offer valuable insights into the strategy behind US foreign affairs.
www.geocities.com...
Originally posted by dixon
George of the Jungle cannot and will not lose his "face" and the Iraqis / region cannot stomach another American satellite there.
Originally posted by dixon
This option still causes a major embarrassment for George of the Jungle as many people will call it for what it really is : failure.
Confusion surrounds turnout statistics in Iraq's election, with the country's election commission backtracking on a statement that 72% had voted and top politicians insisting the turnout was high.
The commission said its initial tally had been little more than a guess based on local estimates.
"Turnout figures recently announced represent the enormous and understandable enthusiasm felt in the field on this historic day," a commission statement said.
"However, these figures are only very rough, word-of-mouth estimates gathered informally from the field. It will take some time for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq to release accurate figures on turnout."
english.aljazeera.net...