*** 4-Jun-13 World View -- Greece's neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party popularity grows

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Greece's bailout under scrutiny again as neo-Nazi popularity grows
• Rise of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party splits Greece's governing coalition
• Russia grabs Georgian territory for South Ossetia

****
**** Greece's bailout under scrutiny again as neo-Nazi popularity grows
****


Last week's Golden Dawn rally in Athens, commemorating the anniversary of the fall of Constantinople in 1453

The next 3.3 billion euro installment in the bailout of Greece is due
at the end of June if Greece is to avoid going bankrupt, and so
representatives of the "troika" of organizations bailing out Greece --
the European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- are returning to Greece to turn
the screws and make sure that the government meets its previous
promises and commitments. The big issue is that Greece has committed
to sacking 15,000 civil servants by the end of 2014. They've already
gotten the concession that only 4,000 need be sacked in 2013,
postponing 11,000 to next year. However, as it turns out, only 99
civil servants have been fired since July of last year. Kathimerini

****
**** Rise of neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party splits Greece's governing coalition
****

Greece has had six years of recession, and the pressure to sack 4,000
civil servants this year comes as Greece's far-right neo-Nazi Golden
Dawn political party is gaining in popularity. (The phrase
"far-right" has different meanings in Europe and America.) Violence
against immigrants is increasing, and last week several thousand
Golden Dawn supporters attended a rally in central Athens, holding
Greek flags and fire torches, chanting "Foreigners out of Greece."
Both the European Union and human rights groups are pressuring Greek
officials to toughen xenophobia and racism, and these demands have
split the governing coalition. The left wing coalition partners, the
Socialist Pasok party and Democratic Left, favor strong measures such
as criminalizing incitement to commit racial violence or denying Nazi
crimes during WW II. However, conservative Prime Minister Antonis
Samaras and his center-right New Democracy party refuse to endorse
such laws, saying that new laws would have no effect. The new laws
could cause other problems. If, for example, the denial of genocide
is explicitly criminalized, then conservative deputies would probably
want to tackle the issue of whether someone who denies Armenian
genocide should face a prison sentence - a debate that is likely to
create foreign policy tensions. Deutsche Welle and AP

****
**** Russia grabs Georgian territory for South Ossetia
****

Russia appears to be using the same kinds of tactics that China uses
in India and the South China sea -- just use the military to grab
territory and then argue that it was theirs all along. When Russia
invaded Georgia in 2008, it took control of two Georgian provinces,
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and has discussed the possibility of
either absorbing them into Russia or recognizing them as independent
nations. Last week, Russian border guards in South Ossetia put up
wire fences along the South Ossetia border, and in doing so moved the
border 300 meters deep into the village of Ditsi in Georgia, cutting
off arable lands and sources of water from Ditsi residents. It's
thought that the reason that the Russians are showing contempt for the
Georgian politicians is that they want to pressure Georgia into
staying out of Nato. Georgia is anxious to join Nato, in order to
gain leverage against Russia. Georgia is a significant contributor to
Euro-Atlantic security, and is a large troop contributor to the war in
Afghanistan. The new incident in Ditsi is raising the Georgian
population's sense of insecurity, and is raising concerns in Nato.
Jamestown and Azer News (Baku)


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Greece, Golden Dawn,
Antonis Samaras, troika,
Russia, South Ossetia, Georgia, Ditsi, Nato

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*** 5-Jun-13 World View -- France says there's 'no doubt' that Syria regime used sarin gas

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Hong Kong commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
• France says there's 'no doubt' that Syria regime used sarin gas
• Hezbollah may be planning new war with Israel

****
**** Hong Kong commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre
****


Iconic photo of 'tank man' - student blocking row of tanks in Tiananmen Square in June, 1989

Tuesday is the 24th anniversary of the start of China's Tiananmen
Square massacre. On June 4, 1989, China's military massacred
thousands of unarmed students who were demonstrating peacefully in
Beijing's Tiananmen Square. In China it's still forbidden to talk
about the massacre, and you can be jailed and tortured for doing so.
But in many ways, the Tiananmen Square massacre was a turning point
for China. It triggered the Falun Gong protest movement in China,
which has also been violently suppressed. In Taiwan, it triggered the
Wild Lily rebellion, which led to the activist movement demanding
Taiwan's nationhood and independence from China. Hong Kong is the
only place in China where it's still legal to talk about the Tiananmen
Square massacre, and on Tuesday, more than 100,000 protesters have
flocked to Hong Kong's Victoria Park to mark the 24th anniversary, and
to demand freedom from the Beijing government. Telegraph (London)

****
**** France says there's 'no doubt' that Syria regime used sarin gas
****

Empty rhetoric abounded again on Tuesday after France's foreign
minister Laurent Fabius announced on television that the regime of
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad used sarin gas against the
opposition with "no doubt":

<QUOTE>"There is no doubt that it’s the regime and its
accomplices [are responsible for using sarin gas]. ...

All options are on the table. That means either we decide not to
react or we decide to react including by armed actions targeting
the place where the gas is stored."<END QUOTE>

The conclusion was reached by lab analysis of soil samples smuggled
out of Syria.

Actually, there's a third option besides deciding to react or deciding
not to react. The third option is not to decide anything, and that
will undoubtedly be the option taken. President Barack Obama in the
past has said that al-Assad regime use of chemical or biological
weapons would be "a red line," and crossing it would draw military
action. On Tuesday, the White House said that more proof was needed.
France 24 and BBC

****
**** Hezbollah may be planning new war with Israel
****

Syria's army continues to win battles against the rebels, and the
rebels are all but defeated in and around Damascus. Debka, which
sometimes gets things wrong and sometimes predicts imminent wars that
don't occur, is quoting its military intelligence sources as saying
Hezbollah has taken advantage of the Assad regime's victory around
Damascus to move militia units equipped with heavy arms and missiles
toward the Syrian-Israeli border. According to the report, a
Hezbollah attack across the border into Israel could be only days
away. Debka

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong,
Falun Gong, Taiwan,
France, Syria, Laurent Fabius, Bashar al-Assad, sarin gas,
Israel, Hezbollah

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Eh, I think I'm going to go with George Friedman's opinion on this. Hezbollah has got its place full already, I doubt they are looking to add a new front right now.

*** 6-Jun-13 World View -- Syria and Hezbollah gloat over victory in town of Qusair

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Syria and Hezbollah gloat over victory in town of Qusair
• Assad's Qusair victory renews debate about military intervention
• Thousands of American troops to Jordan for 'Eager Lion'

****
**** Syria and Hezbollah gloat over victory in town of Qusair
****


A Syrian army soldier sits inside a tank (AFP)

Syria's army scored a decisive victory on Wednesday in
the strategic town of Qusair which controls major transportation
routes in southwest Syria. According to the Syrian army:

<QUOTE>"We will not hesitate to crush with an iron fist those
who attack us. ... Their fate is surrender or death. We will
continue our string of victories until we regain every inch of
Syrian land. [The capture was] a clear message to all those
participating in the aggression against Syria."<END QUOTE>

Analysts are saying that the capture of Qusair gives a tremendous
boost to Hezbollah, which will now be empowered to continue openly
fighting along side the Syrian regime's army. According to Lebanese
retired general Hisham Jaber:

<QUOTE>"Hezbollah will fight anywhere in Syria that requires
guerrilla warfare tactics. It fought in Qusair because street
battles were required there, and I do not rule out the possibility
that it will join more street battles in Aleppo as well. The
Syrian army is incapable of fighting street battles."<END QUOTE>

A Hezbollah supporter, Lebanese retired Gen. Amin Hoteit, agreed:

<QUOTE>"The equation is clear, Syria is being subjected to
Western aggression spearheaded by Israel. This means that
Hezbollah is actually fighting Israel and it is ready to do this
anywhere in Syria.

By joining the war, Hezbollah and Syria are affirming the strategy
of the resistance axis, which is ... together we confront the same
danger."<END QUOTE>

The Qusair represents a major victory for Syria's president Bashar
al-Assad, for Hizbollah's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and for
Russia's president Vladimir Putin. Daily Star (Beirut) and Daily Star (Beirut)

****
**** Assad's Qusair victory renews debate about military intervention
****

The gloating by Syria's president Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's
terrorist group Hezbollah is raising nationalist fervor outside
of Syria, and is renewing the debate whether the West should
intervene military.

Both Susan Rice and Samantha Power, both of whom were given national
security promotions on Wednesday by the Obama Administration, have
been advocates in the past of military intervention in the Darfur
crisis civil war. As I've written in the past, military intervention
in Darfur would have been a disastrous error. (See "Senator Joe Biden wants to move troops from Iraq to Darfur civil war"
from 2007.)

So at the very least, these two women's appointments can be expected
to heat up the debate whether America should intervene militarily,
especially after the humiliation of seeing Russia's clients score an
critical victory against America's clients.

There is already a bitter division in the cabinet of Britain's prime
minister David Cameron. Cameron himself favors military intervention,
but at least five members of his capability oppose intervention, argue
that supplying weapons to the Free Syrian Army might only escalate the
conflict, killing many more people, without any realistic prospect of
providing a decisive victory for the rebels.

Analysts that I heard on Wednesday are split on the significance
of the regime's Qusair victory, with some downplaying the
significance of Qusair, and others saying that it's important,
but its loss is part of the "ebb and flow" of the war.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, one must
recognize the possibility that al-Assad's Qusair victory
may lead to the complete collapse of the rebel side.
As I've written many, many times, Syria is in a generational
Awakening era, like America in the 1960s, with little desire
among the Syrian people for a war. The war has been propelled
entirely by the psychopathic president Bashar al-Assad, with
heavy weapons supplied by Russia and Iran, and guerilla fighters
supplied by Hezbollah. Without that outside support, al-Assad's
army would have collapsed long ago. But with that support,
it's the rebel side that vulnerable to collapse, and that
collapse may be close.

In that event, there are almost certainly going to be bitter
recriminations in the West, as this will be the third such loss that
might be blamed on the Obama administration:

• Sectarian violence has been growing steadily in Iraq since
  December, 2011, when the American forces pulled out.
  
• Afghanistan's government is very unlikely to survive the
  pullout of American forces.
  
• And now a possible victory by al-Assad in Syria.

The politics of this situation cannot easily be predicted, but
Americans do not like to lose wars, or even appear to have lost wars,
especially to dictators and terrorists. It's possible that the loss
of Syria will trigger a nationalistic backlash in America, and a
renewal of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. Bloomberg and Independent (London)

****
**** Thousands of American troops to Jordan for 'Eager Lion'
****

There are various reports about thousands of American soldiers, as
well as F-16 warplanes, Patriot missile systems, being deployed to
Jordan this week. These deployments are being ignored by the
mainstream media, but they're not secret either, as they're part of a
long-scheduled military exercise called "Eager Lion 2013," scheduled
for later this month. The exercise will involve about 8,000
personnel. About 5,000 of those will be U.S., and about 3,000 will be
Jordanian. Other participating countries include Britain, Bahrain,
Canada, the Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Iraq, Italy, Lebanon,
Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi
Arabia and Yemen.

The heavy involvement of American forces and equipment is raising
questions about whether something further is planned besides the
military exercises. Possibilities include: military intervention in
Syria, providing heavy weapons to the Syrian rebels, simply sending a
message to Russia, Iran and al-Assad, or providing military support
for Jordan, an American ally. Debka and UPI and Army.mil


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Qusair, Hezbollah,
Bashar al-Assad, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
Amin Hoteit, Hisham Jaber,
Susan Rice, Samantha Power, Darfur, Joe Biden,
David Cameron, Free Syrian Army, Russia, Iran,
Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Eager Lion 2013

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Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis

...
The gloating by Syria's president Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's
terrorist group Hezbollah is raising nationalist fervor outside
of Syria, and is renewing the debate whether the West should
intervene military.

Both Susan Rice and Samantha Power, both of whom were given national
security promotions on Wednesday by the Obama Administration, have
been advocates in the past of military intervention in the Darfur
crisis civil war. As I've written in the past, military intervention
in Darfur would have been a disastrous error. (See "Senator Joe Biden wants to move troops from Iraq to Darfur civil war"
from 2007.)

So at the very least, these two women's appointments can be expected
to heat up the debate whether America should intervene militarily,
especially after the humiliation of seeing Russia's clients score an
critical victory against America's clients...

-Oh! Chickenhawks.

Yes, chicken hawks. How many quagmires do we have to endure before they die of old age?

*** 7-Jun-13 World View -- Austria quits U.N. peacekeeping force on Syria-Israel border

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Russia's president Vladimir Putin is getting a divorce
• Austria quits U.N. peacekeeping force on Syria-Israel border
• North Korea goes on a charm offensive

****
**** Russia's president Vladimir Putin is getting a divorce
****


Alina Kabaeva relaxes after a tough day at rhythmical gymnastics in this 2008 photo (pravda.ru)

In 2008, I wrote "Putin angrily denies divorce rumors and shuts down newspaper reporting them"
, and described how Russia's president Vladimir Putin
terrorized a female reporter at a joint press conference with Silvio
Berlusconi when she asked a question about a rumored affair with Alina
Kabaeva, while Berlusconi helped out by gesturing with his had
pretending to shoot the reporter. At the 2008 press conference, Putin
derided the "snotty noses and erotic fantasies" of the journalists
reporting the rumors, which he denied, saying:

<QUOTE>"There is not a word of truth in this story.
Politicians live in glass houses, everyone wants to know how they
live, but there are limits and there is a private life and these
limits should be respected. ... Other publications of a similar
nature have in the past mentioned similar stories about me and
women entertainers and attractive young girls and it will come as
no surprise to you that I don't like them."<END QUOTE>

That's not the only thing that Putin was lying about in 2008. He was
also lying by denying that he had an arrangement with Dmitry Medvedev
to become President again in 2012.

So now it turns out that Putin, 60, is president again, and he's
divorcing his wife, and the continuing affair with rhythmical gymnast
Alina Kabaeva, 30, may well be the reason. If you have a few minutes,
watch this hot 2004 video of Kabaeva's award-winning performance. You'll never
look at a ball the same way again.

Putin was married to Lyudmila Putina for 30 years, and they have two
daughters, 27 and 28. Kabaeva is also rumored to have two children by
Putin, though she denies it. Telegraph

****
**** Austria quits U.N. peacekeeping force on Syria-Israel border
****

The entire United Nations peacekeeping effort in the Golan Heights on
the border between Syria and Israel is in jeopardy after Austria's
announcement that it's withdrawing its 380 troops from 1,000 member
force, because the peacekeepers' lives are in danger. The
announcement came after fighting broke out on the border on Thursday
between Syria's army troops and opposition rebel fighters, wounding a
peacekeeper from the Philippines. The peacekeeping force has been in
place since 1974, and the border has been peaceful until now. The
U.N. is searching for a country that will replace Austria, and Israel
is moving additional troops into the border area, preventing some
Israeli farmers from reaching their farms. Reuters and VOA

****
**** North Korea goes on a charm offensive
****

The North Koreans made a surprise proposal on Thursday to
hold talks on reopening the Kaesong Industrial Complex.
North Korea's child dictator Kim Jong-un shut down the complex
two months ago when he threw his temper tantrum, threatening
to shoot missiles at Japan, South Korea, and America.
On Thursday, the North Korean Central News Agency announced:

<QUOTE>"We propose holding talks between authorities of the
north and south for the normalization of operations at Kaesong and
the resumption of tours to Mt. Kumkang on the occasion of the
anniversary of the June 15 joint declaration."<END QUOTE>

Kaesong was a major source of hard currency for the North Koreans, so
the child dictator's temper tantrum has cost North Korea a great deal
of money. The motivation for the new charm offensive is to stop the
bleeding. Yonhap (Seoul)



KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Alina Kabaeva,
Silvio Berlusconi, Lyudmila Putina,
Syria, Israel, Austria, United Nations, Philippines,
North Korea, Kaesong Industrial Complex, Kim Jong-un

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*** 8-Jun-13 World View -- U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan
• U.N. rejects Russian troops to replace Austrian peacekeepers
• Greece's economy continues its collapse, as the IMF blames the EU

****
**** U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan
****


Drone strike

It was just two days ago that the brand new prime minister of
Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, said that the U.S. must call off its drone
campaign:

<QUOTE>"We respect the sovereignty of others and they should
respect our sovereignty and independence. This campaign must come
to an end now."<END QUOTE>

He has also criticized the drone strike that killed Waliur Rehman, the
second in command in Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistan
Taliban, two weeks ago.

On Friday, the U.S. apparently snubbed Sharif's call by launching a
drone that fired two missiles at suspected militants in Waziristan in
Pakistan's tribal region, killing seven and injuring three others.
The new drone strike is sure to become a major political issue in
Pakistan, and widen an existing fault line between the politicians,
who oppose the drone strikes, and the Pakistan intelligence agencies,
which favor them. Tribune (Pakistan) and VOA

****
**** U.N. rejects Russian troops to replace Austrian peacekeepers
****

There was a bit of humor on Friday, when Russia's president Vladimir
Putin offered Russian troops to replace the Austrian troops that are
pulling out of the peacekeeping force on the border between Syria and
Israel because it's become too dangerous there, as we reported
yesterday.

Having Russian troops on the border between Syria and Israel
would be such a great idea. They're already in Syria helping
out president Bashar al-Assad massacre innocent civilians, and
in their new role they could join Hezbollah in more slaughter.

Unfortunately for Putin, the United Nations rejected the offer because
an agreement between Israel and Syria bars permanent members of the
Security Council from the peacekeeping mission. Reuters and Debka

****
**** Greece's economy continues its collapse, as the IMF blames the EU
****

Greece's economy contracted an astronomical 5.6% in the first quarter
of 2013, in the 19th straight quarter of decline, according to a
report issued on Friday. The entire Greece bailout program was based
on the assumption that Greece's economy would have started to grow
long before now, and there have been predictions of "growth next year"
for several years. In fact, Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras
is predicting growth in 2014, as part of his standard ritual.

The finger-pointing is in full gear. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) issued a report on Thursday blaming the European Union for not
questioning Greece's lies about its economy when in joined the euro
currency, and then mis-handling the bailout. In response, EU Economic
and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn hit back calling that
revisionist history. He said: "I don’t think it’s fair and just that
(the IMF) is trying to wash its hands and throw dirty water on
European shoulders," saying that the IMF did not oppose any of the
bailout steps that were taken. In fact, I said repeatedly that
there was no solution to the Greece problem, and there were
others who also expressed doubts. I pointed out misrepresentations
and outright lies by European officials during the various
meetings to approve bailouts.

Now crunch time is getting closer. Greece needs another bailout
payment by the end of this month to avoid bankruptcy, and the lies aren't
working that well any more. Euro News and Greek Reporter and IMF report on Greece (PDF)


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Pakistan, Waziristan, Nawaz Sharif,
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, TTP, Waliur Rehman,
Russia, Vladimir Putin, Hezbollah, Israel, Syria,
Greece, International Monetary Foundation, IMF,
Olli Rehn

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Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan...

-The Pakis already admitted that they're actually OK with them.

Originally Posted by JDG 66

-The Pakis already admitted that they're actually OK with them.

Depends on which ones you talk to. The people themselves are quite pissy about them. Can't really blame them.

*** 9-Jun-13 World View -- Obama and China's Xi Jinping endorse new cooperative relationship

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• China's Xi Jinping and Obama endorse 'new model' of relationship
• Churchill and FDR never met Hitler
• Pakistan strongly protests Friday's drone strike

****
**** China's Xi Jinping and Obama endorse 'new model' of relationship
****


Xi and Obama having informal shirtsleeve discussions (Reuters)

Saying that his meeting with China's president Xi Jinping
was "terrific," President Barack Obama met with the Chinese
leader for several hours on Friday and Saturday. Prior
to the meeting, both leaders endorsed a "new model" of
U.S.-China cooperation. Prior to the meeting,
Obama said:

<QUOTE>"This will give me an opportunity to reiterate how the
United States welcomes the continuing peaceful rise of China as
world power and that in fact it is in the United States' interest
that China continues on the path of success.

The United States seeks an international economy and seeks an
international economic order where nations are playing by the same
rules, where trade is free and fair and where the United States
and China work together to address issues like cybersecurity and
protection of intellectual property."<END QUOTE>

Xi also called for "a new model of major country relations," and said,

<QUOTE>"I’m confident that our meeting will achieve positive
outcomes and inject fresh momentum into the China-U.S.
relationship."<END QUOTE>

Politico and CBS News

****
**** Churchill and FDR never met Hitler
****

Neither American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt nor British prime
minister Winston Churchill ever met Germany's Fuhrer Adolf Hitler face
to face. However, Churchill's predecessor, Neville Chamberlain did
meet Hitler face to face in Berlin, and came back to Britain promising
"peace in our time." He came with an agreement signed by Hitler that
promised a new model of British-German cooperation. The agreement
said:

<QUOTE>"We, the German Führer and Chancellor, and the British
Prime Minister, have had a further meeting today and are agreed in
recognizing that the question of Anglo-German relations is of the
first importance for our two countries and for Europe.

We regard the agreement signed last night and the Anglo-German
Naval Agreement as symbolic of the desire of our two peoples never
to go to war with one another again. We are resolved that the
method of consultation shall be the method adopted to deal with
any other questions that may concern our two countries, and we are
determined to continue our efforts to remove possible sources of
difference, and thus to contribute to assure the peace of
Europe."<END QUOTE>

The agreement met with worldwide praise, and was considered to be a
historic turning point in German-British relations, in that
disagreements would be solved by diplomacy and negotiation.

After the war, Hitler's comments on the meeting were revealed:

<QUOTE>"Well, he seemed such a nice old gentleman, I thought
I would give him my autograph as a souvenir."<END QUOTE>

Euro Docs and Gordon State

****
**** Pakistan strongly protests Friday's drone strike
****

Pakistan summoned the U.S. Charge d'Affaires on Saturday to protest
Friday's drone strike (see "8-Jun-13 World View -- U.S. snubs Pakistan with new drone strikes in Waziristan"
). Pakistan's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs issued the following statement:

<QUOTE>"On the Prime Minister’s [Nawaz Sharif] instructions,
the US Charge d’ Affaires, Ambassador Richard Hoagland was
summoned this afternoon to the Foreign Office by Special Assistant
to the Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs,
Mr. Tariq Fatemi to lodge a strong protest on the US drone strike
carried out in North Waziristan on 07 June 2013. The US official
was handed a demarche in this regard.

It was conveyed to the US CdA that the Government of Pakistan
strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of
Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The importance
of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes was emphasized.

It was also pointed out that the Government of Pakistan has
consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive,
entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and
humanitarian implications.

It was also stressed that these drone strikes have a negative
impact on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cordial
and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in
the region."<END QUOTE>

Friday's drone strike killed a key Pakistani Taliban commander, Mutaqi
alias Bahadar Khan, along with six suspected militants. The drone
strikes are extremely unpopular with the Pakistani people, many of
whom blame the frequent terrorist violence on the drone strikes. The
drone strikes were a major issue in the recent elections that brought
Nawaz Sharif to power, and he has demanded several times that they
end. However, this puts him in apparent conflict with Pakistan's army
and intelligence services, who are thought to favor the drone strikes
as an important tool in the fight against the Taliban. Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Dawn (Pakistan)

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Xi Jinping,
Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
Neville Chamberlain, Adolf Hitler, Britain, Germany,
Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, Richard Hoagland,
Tariq Fatemi, Mutaqi, Bahadar Khan, Taliban

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Comparing Xi Jinping to Hitler seems a bit much, if you ask me.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

Comparing Xi Jinping to Hitler seems a bit much, if you ask me.

Comparing Hitler to Hitler in 1938 would have seemed a bit much as well.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

Comparing Xi Jinping to Hitler seems a bit much, if you ask me.

Not to a Boomer neocon, it isn't.

Originally Posted by Justin '77

Not to a Boomer neocon, it isn't.

I'm not a neocon, and I've criticized their ideology which is just as
screwed up as the commie ideology. You know what a commie is, don't
you, Justin?

There was a comment in a magazine article about Syria-that neocons are pressuring Obama. So we get this "red line" rhetoric.

Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis

Comparing Hitler to Hitler in 1938 would have seemed a bit much as well.

I disagree. By 1938 Hitler had already written Mein Kampf, attempted the Beer Hall Putch, passed the Enabling Act in the wake of the Reichstag Fire, declared himself dictator in violation of the constitution, organized the Night of Long Knives, and was otherwise recognizable as the Hitler we know and live today. Xi Jinping, not so much. Who knows what the future will bring? It's more like 1933, after all. Or maybe 1853.

Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis

You know what a commie is, don't
you, Justin?

Do you? I mean, you post stuff all the time implying you think those ancients beasts are still to be found walking the earth in China, after all. That alone leaves serious doubts as to whether you identify things* for what they are, or simply for what they call themselves (or even just, what others call them).


*At least, politically speaking.

Originally Posted by Justin '77

> Do you? I mean, you post stuff all the time implying you think
> those ancients beasts are still to be found walking the earth in
> China, after all. That alone leaves serious doubts as to whether
> you identify things* for what they are, or simply for what they
> call themselves (or even just, what others call them). *At least,
> politically speaking.

What the hell are you talking about? Instead of just spewing out
random name calling, why don't you provide a specific example of
something I actually wrote that you disagree with, rather than
something that you simply imagined that I wrote.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

> I disagree. By 1938 Hitler had already written Mein Kampf,
> attempted the Beer Hall Putch, passed the Enabling Act in the wake
> of the Reichstag Fire, declared himself dictator in violation of
> the constitution, organized the Night of Long Knives, and was
> otherwise recognizable as the Hitler we know and live today. Xi
> Jinping, not so much. Who knows what the future will bring? It's
> more like 1933, after all. Or maybe 1853.

And Xi Jinping has launched a series of "The China Dream" speeches, in
which he calls for China to shed its past as a secondary player, and
become the world's top military and economic power. He's visiting
Chinese military bases and telling the troops to be ready for war at
any time. He's personally taking charge of policy in the East and
South China Seas, and has vowed that China will take every step
necessary to gain control of these regions, including areas that have
been owned by other countries for centuries. China is rapidly
preparing for war with India, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and the
U.S., and Xi Jinping is committed to leading the effort.

As for 1938, I'm sure you know that Churchill DID issue those
warnings, and the warnings were ignored and ridiculed, something that
I very much understand by now.

Originally Posted by John J. Xenakis

What the hell are you talking about? Instead of just spewing out
random name calling, why don't you provide a specific example of
something I actually wrote that you disagree with, rather than
something that you simply imagined that I wrote.

Fair enough, your contention that we may be talking past each other. Why don't we go back to your comment re: "commies", and have you explain what the hell you mean when you use that word (since my answer was clearly based on a definition we do not hold in common...). Okay?

Originally Posted by Justin '77

> Fair enough, your contention that we may be talking past each
> other. Why don't we go back to your comment re: "commies", and
> have you explain what the hell you mean when you use that
> word (since my answer was clearly based on a definition we do not
> hold in common...). Okay?

I was comparing the neocon and commie ideologies, and saying that
they're equally screwed up. The neocon ideology is that you can
invade a country and turn it into a democracy, which violates
Generational Dynamics principles. The commie ideology is that the
government can own all means of production and have a successful
centrally planned economy which is fairly easy to prove to be
mathematically impossible for all but the smallest population sizes.

The reason that I asked you if you know what a commie is - is because
you obviously don't know what a neocon is if you think I'm a neocon,
and so I was wondering if you even know what a commie is.

*** 10-Jun-13 World View -- The deafening silence following the Xi/Obama summit

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• The deafening silence following the Xi Jinping / Barack Obama summit
• George W. Obama

****
**** The deafening silence following the Xi Jinping / Barack Obama summit
****


President Xi to meet Obama (Global Times)

Prior to the two-day meeting of China's president Xi Jinping and
U.S. president Barack Obama, both of them bubbled with enthusiasm, and
talked about a "new model" of cooperation between China and the U.S.
Now that's it's over, a U.S. official has described it as "unique,
positive and constructive."

But the only agreement to come out of the meeting was North Korea
shouldn't have nuclear weapons. That was it. The silence has been
deafening. Let's see if we can guess what happened with respect to
the other issues that were supposed to be discussed at this summit:

• Cyberwar: U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said
  Obama had warned Xi that cyber-crime could be an "inhibitor" in
  US-China relations, which is really a laughable statement. My guess
  is that Xi told the following to Obama: "We're going to continue what
  we're doing, and anyway, you're doing the same thing."
  
• South China Sea: Obama would have told Xi that disputes should be
  decided by negotiation, or mediated by the United Nations. Xi would
  have told Obama: "Everything in the South China Sea is indisputably
  the sovereign territory of China, no matter what the U.N. says, and we
  will do everything we have to do militarily to preserve our sovereign
  properties." Xi would also have warned Obama to stop meddling in the
  region and causing problems.
  
• Human rights: Obama might have raised concerns about Chinese
  treatment of dissidents, Tibetans and Uighurs. Xi would have said:
  "These are all internal matters to China, and the United States has no
  business interfering in them."
  
• Syria: "These are all internal matters to Syria, and the United
  States has no business interfering in them."

It's well to remember, as I've described in the past, that Xi Jinping
has launched a series of "The China Dream" speeches, in which he calls
for China to shed its past as a secondary player, and become the
world's top military and economic power. He's visited Chinese military
bases and told the troops to be ready for war at any time. He's
personally taking charge of policy in the East and South China Seas,
and has vowed that China will take every step necessary to gain
control of these regions, including areas that have been owned by
other countries for centuries. China is rapidly preparing for war
with India, Vietnam, Philippines, Japan and the U.S., and Xi Jinping
is committed to leading the effort.

When President Obama was asked how the meeting was going, he said
"Terrific!" The credulous mainstream press thought he was saying that
the meeting was going well, but I interpreted his response as being
sarcastic. It's possible that President Obama may now realize that
his smooth rhetoric will have no effect on anything that China is
going to do. BBC and
Global Times (Beijing)

****
**** George W. Obama
****


George W. Obama (Huffington Post)

A number of President Barack Obama's supporters on the left are
claiming that Obama has morphed into President George W. Bush. The
adjoining picture is a blending of the images of Obama and Bush and
looks really weird. Nonetheless, this photo was displayed last week
on the front page of the left-wing Huffington Post to demonstrate
their distress that sometimes Obama isn't the total loony nutcase that
the far left wants him to be.

Apparently it wasn't the Benghazi scandal or the IRS scandal or the
threats targeting Fox News's James Rosen or the lies and stonewalling
and coverups that caused this comparison to be made. That's just as
well, because for those, we should have a picture of Richard M. Obama.

Ironically, the revelation that's causing the left to complain about
George W. Obama is the revelation about Prism, the secret government
programs that collect phone and internet data to help thwart
terrorists. That's ironic, because from what I understand the
technical details of the operation of Prism to be, and unlike the IRS
targeting of Obama's enemies, the American public appears to be
protected, and the program provides a powerful and valuable service in
protecting America from terrorist attacks. Regarding Prism, the real
crime is that it was made public by another left-wing nutcase.

Long-time readers of my web site will not be surprised at all that
Obama's terms as president are very much like Bush's third and fourth
terms would have been. As I've said many times, I didn't worry too
much about the ridiculous claims that Obama said during the 2008
campaign, because I knew it was just fatuous campaign rhetoric. But
he didn't abandon those claims after he was elected, and I remember
thinking, "Ohmigod, he actually believes all the crap."

But Obama has gotten some painful lessons since then. He would cure
global warming, close Guantanamo, become friendly with Iran and North
Korea, bring a two-state solution to Palestinians and Israelis, beat
the Taliban and al-Qaeda, end the financial crisis, reflate the real
estate and stock market bubbles and, of course, provide universal
health care. All of these objectives have been total failures, the
sole exception being his health care program, which is going to
be an economic disaster if it's not heavily modified.

As I've written dozens of times since 2008, it's a basic principle of
Generational Dynamics that even in a dictatorship, major policies and
events are determined by masses of people, entire generations of
people, and not by politicians. What politicians say or do is
irrelevant, except insofar as their actions reflect the attitudes of
the people that they represent, and so politicians can neither cause
nor prevent the great events of history. It's a consequence of that
basic principle that whatever was going to happen in the Obama
administration is the same thing that would have happened in
additional Bush administrations, because it was the result
of generational forces.

There's another generational connection to be made in this picture.
Why should anyone be surprised that the IRS is full of people who are
using the power of the IRS to target political enemies? It's just a
few years ago that an entire generation -- Generation-X -- of
financial engineers in the banking system created tens of trillions of
dollars of fraudulent subprime mortgage-backed securities and sold
them as AAA-rated. Then you have the widespread Libor fixing crimes,
then energy-fixing crimes, various crimes in the computer industry
that I've seen with my own eyes. And you have experts on CNBC every
day lie about stock valuations. (As an aside, the S&P 500
Price/Earnings ratio, as reported by Friday's Wall Street Journal is an astronomically high value of
18.38, meaning that stocks are far overpriced.)

So if thousands of financial institutions caused the financial
crisis by creating tens of trillions of dollars in fraudulent
securities, then of course the IRS is going to perform its
own version of fraud and extortion. The same is going to be true
at other government agencies. Why would anyone believe anything
else?

And what about the bank presidents. Did they know what was
going on? How stupid would they have to be not to know
that their bank was making millions of dollars selling trillions
of dollars in fraudulent securities? Of course they knew
what was going on, and of course they've been lying about it.

And what about President Obama. Did he know what was going
on at the IRS? How stupid would he have to be not to know
that the IRS was targeting his political opponents in the
middle of his reelection campaign? Of course he knew what
was going on, and of course he's been lying about it.

President Obama's repeated failures have been tremendous learning
experiences for him. And this weekend, he's had another learning
experience -- his "terrific" meeting with China's president Xi Jinping
must surely have opened his eyes to the fact that things are not going
to go in the direction he was hoping even a month ago. Bloomberg


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, China, Xi Jinping, North Korea,
Tom Donilon, South China Sea, Syria,
George W. Obama

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*** 11-Jun-13 World View -- Russia considers putting troops on Israel-Syria border

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• After years of hesitation, U.S. discussing arming Syria's rebels
• Sunni Arab anger grows over Hezbollah's support for al-Assad
• Russia considers putting troops on Israel-Syria border

****
**** After years of hesitation, U.S. discussing arming Syria's rebels
****


14-year-old boy who was beaten and then shot dead by Islamist rebels in Aleppo (ABC News)

Because of the recent military successes of the army of the regime of
Syria's president Bashar al-Assad, aided by thousands of fighters from
Lebanon's Hezbollah terror militia and possibly also by Revolutionary
Guards from Iran, the Obama administration is beginning a discussion
on providing lethal weapons to rebel forces. The weapons would only
go to "vetted, moderate" rebel units, to prevent al-Qaeda linked
groups to end up with the weapons. This would essentially pit the
United States alongside regional allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar
in a proxy war against Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. AP

****
**** Sunni Arab anger grows over Hezbollah's support for al-Assad
****

A political realignment has been taking place in the Mideast, thanks
to the actions of Syria's psychopathic president Bashar al-Assad's
mass slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in
Syria. However, the recent major announcement by Hezbollah
secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would be openly fighting
alongside al-Assad's forces against the rebels has served to deepen
and hasten the realignment.

Since 1948, Mideast politics has largely been motivated by the
"resistance to Israeli occupation," and "the enemy of my enemy
(Israel) is my friend." Probably the strangest manifestation has been
the close alignment of Sunni Muslim Hamas with three Shia Muslim
entities, Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran,
with additional support from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Sunni
Muslim countries. However, al-Assad's torture, mutilation and
slaughter of peacefully protesting Sunni Muslim Arabs in Syria has
torn apart those alliances, and re-formed them along sectarian lines.
An early sign was last year's announcement by Hamas that it was
closing its headquarters office in Damascus, Syria, and moving it to
Doha, Qatar.

But Nasrallah's recent announcement has sparked a wave of enraged
sectarian criticism of Hezbollah in the Sunni Arab world, with the
media saying that Hezbollah is a murderous and hostile organization
even more dangerous than al-Qaeda. Other articles argued that the
organization had forfeited its legitimacy and that it was dragging
both Lebanon and the region into sectarian war, as part of an
Iranian-Russian plan to gain control of the region. According to a
leading Saudi government daily:

<QUOTE>"[Hezbollah] is continuing alone on its suicidal path,
despite the objection of the parties, sects and the people in
Lebanon. Had it not been for this organization, a sectarian
conflict would not have erupted in Tripoli, scores of people would
not have been killed, and missiles would not have fallen yesterday
on one of Beirut's suburbs. One should remember that this
organization is the regional arm of forces that are larger than
it."<END QUOTE>

In Egypt, the responses were fewer and more moderate apparently
because the Egyptian regime seeks to position itself as a broker in
the Syrian crisis. Memri

****
**** Russia considers putting troops on Israel-Syria border
****

Russia is considering putting Russian troops into the Golan Heights on
the Israel-Syria border as peacekeepers. Russia made the suggestion
last week after the Austrians announced that they would pull their
troops out of the U.N. peacekeeping force, but the U.N. rejected the
suggested because of a 1974 agreement between Syria and Israel that no
permanent members of the U.N. Security Council could serve there as
peacekeepers. But the Russians have decided to push ahead anyway, to
provide "peace and stability." According to Aleksey Pushkov, Russia's
top foreign policy MP,

<QUOTE>"The issue has not been yet solved, it is being
considered. We must take some real action because we cannot
exclude that the Syrian-Israeli topic would be involved in
large-scale military action. ...

Assad could be replaced by radical Islamists in comparison with
whom Assad would seem an angel from heaven. The people who are now
offering friendship to Israel would not necessarily see Israel as
their partner when they come to power, rather they would see it as
an enemy."<END QUOTE>

According to press reports, Israel has replied to the Russian
offer, but has not disclosed whether it supports or opposes
it. Since Russia is supporting the al-Assad regime, the implication
of these statements is that Israel and Russia would be supporting
the al-Assad regime against the rebels.

As I've been writing for many years, from the point of view of
Generational Dynamics, the approaching Clash of Civilizations world
war will pit China + Pakistan + the Sunni Muslim countries versus the
U.S. + India + Russia + Iran + Israel. This new development appears
to be a step in that direction. Russia Today and Ria Novosti


KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Syria, Bashar al-Assad, Iran,
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah, Lebanon, al-Qaeda,
Israel, Hamas, Egypt, Russia, United Nations,
Aleksey Pushkov, Clash of Civilizations world war

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Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

...passed the Enabling Act in the wake of the Reichstag Fire, declared himself dictator in violation of the constitution...

I doubted that comment. Thought so:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling_act

The German word Ermächtigungsgesetz usually refers to the Enabling Act of 1933... Hitler's Act

• was limited to four years, not several months... The Enabling Act of 1933 was renewed by a purely Nazi Reichstag in 1937 and 1939...

...so, FWIW, it wasn't unconstitutional until after 1939.

Originally Posted by JordanGoodspeed

I disagree. By 1938 Hitler had already written Mein Kampf, attempted the Beer Hall Putch, passed the Enabling Act in the wake of the Reichstag Fire, declared himself dictator in violation of the constitution, organized the Night of Long Knives, and was otherwise recognizable as the Hitler we know and live today. Xi Jinping, not so much. Who knows what the future will bring? It's more like 1933, after all. Or maybe 1853.

-Hitler had to create a totalitarian regime; Xi gets to inherit one. Creating a totalitarian regime usually requires cracking a lot of heads. After six decades of totalitarianism, mot of the heads were either cracked long ago, went somewhere where they wouldn't be cracked, or talk and comport themselves in such a way as to not be cracked.

Whether Xi is "the next Hitler" is a different question, but the current level of violence in the PRC isn't a good indicator of his attitude.