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Obama’s transition: A who’s who of imperialist policy
by wsws (reposted)
Thursday Nov 20th, 2008 7:14 AM
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 :The contradiction between the aspirations and hopes of millions of Americans who voted to repudiate the Bush administration's policies of war and social reaction and the class character of the incoming Obama administration has become increasingly clear over the two weeks since Election Day.
The filling out of Obama's transition team with a cast of financiers, lobbyists and defense operatives gives tangible evidence of what is being prepared. The makeup of the team, which Obama has said is working to make "as seamless a transition on national security as possible," shows that his administration will consist of proven veterans of the Washington establishment who are deemed more competent, but no less ruthless, than the Bush administration in defending the interests of US imperialism.

Previous incoming administrations made concessions to public sentiment, appointing figures with popular appeal to second-tier posts. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter, whose administration marked a significant rightward shift by the Democratic Party, nevertheless named one-time civil rights activist Andrew Young as US ambassador to the United Nations—a post from which Young was fired after meeting with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Relying on the overwhelming hatred of American people for the despised Bush administration and his status as the first African-American president, Obama does not feel the need to make such an appeal. Indeed, he has gone out of his way to solidarize himself with right-wing politicians. On Monday, Obama met in Chicago with John McCain, his Republican opponent in the election. In an interview the previous evening on the "60 Minutes" television program, he affirmed his decision to appoint Republicans to his cabinet, and his advisors have widely floated the possibility of his retaining Robert Gates as secretary of defense.

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by IOL (reposted)
Thursday Nov 20th, 2008 7:55 AM
American peace activists fear their President-elect Barak Obama is drifting from his anti-war moorings, citing the nomination of several pro-war politicians to his cabinet.

"Obama ran his campaign around the idea the war was not legitimate, but it sends a very different message when you bring in people who supported the war from the beginning," Kelly Dougherty, executive director of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, November 20.

New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who backed the Iraq war in 2003 and has since refused to backtrack on that support, is tipped as the main candidate for the coveted post of secretary of state.

Clinton, Obama's main rival in the Democratic primaries, also voted in 2007 to support designating Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps a terrorist organization, a decision that pleased conservatives.

Other favorite candidates for the same job are Sens. John Kerry and Richard G. Lugar, who both voted for the Iraq war, though Lugar has since said he regretted doing that.

Another possible contender for the diplomatic post is former diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, who also supported the Iraq invasion.

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by betrayal of hope by Obama's new regime
Thursday Nov 20th, 2008 12:36 PM
People who thought that Obama would bring us change and some sort of positive direction need to brace themselves for the ultimate betrayal once the new neoliberal Obama regime replaces the old neoconservative GW bush regime, another shift change in the psych ward we call the United States..

Instead of remaining in Iraq, the U.S. military troops can now be redeployed to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the hunt for the elusive and quite possibly deceased Osama Bin Laden, leader of the al Qaeda organization..

If Obama is willing to chase Bin Laden to the ends of the Earth, we can count on nothing less than four more years of military invasions of any region deemed a likely "hiding spot" for the former Saudi prince turned "terrorist"..

Instead of rabid and reckless McCain, we can expect cold and calculating Obama putting on the gloves and taking after the terrorists with his Chicago style coolness and sauveness. No linguistic blunders and misreads of the teleprompter like GW Bush that we could all laugh about, Obama will be the serious and well spoken voice at the head of the U.S. empire's death machine of militarism..

Democrats like Republicans are nothing less than whores of the U.S. empire building corporations that care for nothing less than profits and resource aquisitions and control..

Am in complete agreement with the recent statement by Ayman al Z from al Qaeda that calls Obama a "House Negro" sent in to do the dirty work and clean-up for the corporatist imperialist powers that allowed him to win the election, maybe to placate the darker skinned people "See, America is not racist, or why would we elect a black president"? and encourage them to join the military, becoming "Bombers for Obama" as the "war on terror" continues..

To the folks who are offended by Ayman's statement, get a fucking clue already! Why else would Obama have won the election, unless there was already an agreement that military conquest in the Middle East continues??

If Malcolm X were alive today, he would most likely remind people of the problems caused by U.S. foreign policy, and would recommend the best way to "stop the terrorists" would be to listen to their demands (remove U.S. military presence from Muslim lands, stop interfering politically in Muslims lands, and stop interfering with Palestinian self-determination) and allow al Qaeda to vanish by attrition, as once these simple demands from al Qaeda are met, there will be no more need or even desire for young Muslims to pick up arms and fight, they can stay with their families and live in peace, that is all that al Qaeda fighters really want..

If these demands are not met, get ready for another four years of fighting and killing, bombs, guns and other such happenings as al Qaeda will not cease defending Muslim lands from invasion by U.S./Israeli military troops. Can the U.S. really afford this prolonged batttle with the current state of the economy? The Big 3 U.S. auto makers could certainly use the money (Hey, those corporate jets need oil too!!) needed to fight this long term battle, as the jihadists will fight for free..

Just get ready to be disappointed in Obama, the U.S. troops leaving Iraq will only be sent over to Afghanistan/Pakistan, and new waves of bombings and new enemies will be made to prolong the "war on terror" waged to control the remaining petroleum reserves of the Middle East..

McCain says "Bomb bomb Iran" while
Obama says "Bomb bomb Pakistan"

We the people will get debt and war
Peace and freedom for us no more



by betrayal of hope by Obama's new regime
Thursday Nov 20th, 2008 12:36 PM
People who thought that Obama would bring us change and some sort of positive direction need to brace themselves for the ultimate betrayal once the new neoliberal Obama regime replaces the old neoconservative GW bush regime, another shift change in the psych ward we call the United States..

Instead of remaining in Iraq, the U.S. military troops can now be redeployed to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border in the hunt for the elusive and quite possibly deceased Osama Bin Laden, leader of the al Qaeda organization..

If Obama is willing to chase Bin Laden to the ends of the Earth, we can count on nothing less than four more years of military invasions of any region deemed a likely "hiding spot" for the former Saudi prince turned "terrorist"..

Instead of rabid and reckless McCain, we can expect cold and calculating Obama putting on the gloves and taking after the terrorists with his Chicago style coolness and sauveness. No linguistic blunders and misreads of the teleprompter like GW Bush that we could all laugh about, Obama will be the serious and well spoken voice at the head of the U.S. empire's death machine of militarism..

Democrats like Republicans are nothing less than whores of the U.S. empire building corporations that care for nothing less than profits and resource aquisitions and control..

Am in complete agreement with the recent statement by Ayman al Z from al Qaeda that calls Obama a "House Negro" sent in to do the dirty work and clean-up for the corporatist imperialist powers that allowed him to win the election, maybe to placate the darker skinned people "See, America is not racist, or why would we elect a black president"? and encourage them to join the military, becoming "Bombers for Obama" as the "war on terror" continues..

To the folks who are offended by Ayman's statement, get a fucking clue already! Why else would Obama have won the election, unless there was already an agreement that military conquest in the Middle East continues??

If Malcolm X were alive today, he would most likely remind people of the problems caused by U.S. foreign policy, and would recommend the best way to "stop the terrorists" would be to listen to their demands (remove U.S. military presence from Muslim lands, stop interfering politically in Muslims lands, and stop interfering with Palestinian self-determination) and allow al Qaeda to vanish by attrition, as once these simple demands from al Qaeda are met, there will be no more need or even desire for young Muslims to pick up arms and fight, they can stay with their families and live in peace, that is all that al Qaeda fighters really want..

If these demands are not met, get ready for another four years of fighting and killing, bombs, guns and other such happenings as al Qaeda will not cease defending Muslim lands from invasion by U.S./Israeli military troops. Can the U.S. really afford this prolonged batttle with the current state of the economy? The Big 3 U.S. auto makers could certainly use the money (Hey, those corporate jets need oil too!!) needed to fight this long term battle, as the jihadists will fight for free..

Just get ready to be disappointed in Obama, the U.S. troops leaving Iraq will only be sent over to Afghanistan/Pakistan, and new waves of bombings and new enemies will be made to prolong the "war on terror" waged to control the remaining petroleum reserves of the Middle East..

McCain says "Bomb bomb Iran" while
Obama says "Bomb bomb Pakistan"

We the people will get debt and war
Peace and freedom for us no more