The U.S. global military empire just keeps on a' truckin'

the u.s. is going to try to maintain its position as universal lord and master no matter how flimsy the house of cards, how empty the coffers, how hypocritical the posturing, or how bankrupt the system...

today's nyt...

The Obama administration plans to bolster the American military presence in the Persian Gulf after it withdraws the remaining troops from Iraq this year, according to officials and diplomats. That repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran.

[...]

In addition to negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence in Kuwait, the United States is considering sending more naval warships through international waters in the region.

With an eye on the threat of a belligerent Iran, the administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. While the United States has close bilateral military relationships with each, the administration and the military are trying to foster a new “security architecture” for the Persian Gulf that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense.

when i look at what's going on in this world and then read shit like this, it feels like i'm reading something from the historical archives... i can't wait until it really IS in the historical archives...

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Egypt update: several of the policemen stripped off their uniforms and badges and joined the demonstrators

not lookin' good for mubarak...

In one of many astonishing scenes Friday, thousands of anti-government protesters wielding rocks, glass and sticks chased hundreds of riot police away from the main square in downtown Cairo and several of the policemen stripped off their uniforms and badges and joined the demonstrators.

if mubarak, certainly one of the strongest of the middle east strongmen, goes down, look out... yemen, algeria, morocco, syria, jordan, saudi arabia, the uae, iran, kuwait, and - dare i say it - even iraq, are sitting ducks... in fact, any country with a corrupt and repressive leader at the helm (think karzai) is going to be seriously vulnerable...

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Odds & ends, Thursday, 6 January [UPDATE]

in the "something a tad bit different" post from a couple of days ago, i opted to begin serving up occasional interesting stuff that i run across in the course of any given day that doesn't necessarily merit a full-fledged, dedicated post... i've decided that "odds & ends" is as good a title as any for such miscellaneous links...

without further ado...

sustainability = frugality = sustainability

glenn greenwald: a u.s. citizen arrested without charge, tortured and then put on the no-fly list while traveling outside the country "underscores the rapidly expanding powers the U.S. Government and law enforcement agents within the country are seizing without a shred of due process"...

if i run across more odds and ends later, i'll update...

[UPDATE]

yesterday's post about what a truly representative deficit commission might look like is echoed by laura flanders who points out that those most affected by the issues of the day mysteriously never get to join the debate...

meanwhile, obama continues to show his true colors...

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