What's Behind Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

ISIS appearance adds to a string of terror to the world. Why is ISIS so free to act? Is there a "global conspiracy" that deliberately designs the world's panic?


Syrian crisis that has lasted for 5 years seems to be more complicated and prolonged. In the sense, as long as ISIS still studded with funds and weapons, the peace will never be come true there. Moreover, if the U.S. and its Western allies remain half-hearted as it is now.

I believe, in the terms of weaponry and personnel, United States only takes a few days to finish ISIS. Remember, in the 1967 war, Israel was alone, but it was able to make Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon to its knees within 6 days. The larger countries -- in terms of population and territory -- were even forced to give up some of their land to Israel. In that war, the Israeli war machines were almost entirely made in America.

Then, when the United States entered directly, large-scale massacres against the Iraqi army and the civilian population was inevitable. Imagine this, operation Desert Storm to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait, which lasted from January 17 to 28 February 1991, causing more than 100 thousand people were killed, almost all the victims killed were soldiers and Iraqi civilians. When this bloody operation carried out, President of Iraq at the time -- Saddam Hussein -- was in his heyday, as well as the military behind him. He could only be moping when he saw his military forces was destroyed.

So, when the ISIS now seems so powerful in the face of the West, I think it's because there's a global conspiracy behind it, as had happened in Afghanistan when it was occupied by the Soviet Union. At that time, in the 1980s, the West gave financial support and weapons on a large scale to help the Mujahideen against Soviet forces.

In the context of Syria, the global conspiracy started with the Arab Spring, a huge wave of pro-democracy movement in the Arab world that could topple the dictatorship in Tunisia and Egypt. The movement also builds confidence which is widespread throughout the world : that all authoritarian regimes in the Middle East will soon collapse.

United States and its allies see the movement as an opportunity to destroy the power of  Russia's ally that still reigns in Syria, the Ba'ath socialist party under the leadership of president Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. then conspiring with Turkey to train and equip the pro-democracy rebels and the moderate Islam in Syria. Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had already admitted it openly, that at first, the rebel forces in Syria funded by the United States.

Great military pressure on the rebels was eventually pushed Bashar -- who in fact he is a secular and Western-educated -- to raise Shia solidarity to gain support from Iran.

In a further development, it turns out, the West's help is misplaced. As a result, anti-democratic radical rebel forces even getting bigger. Among these is the Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra, which now becomes an important part of ISIS forces. This extreme group in intelligence operations likened as a trained agent who denies its operator.


Now Turkey itself even in a difficult position, in a sense, Turkey worries the act of ISIS can undermine its country's security, especially Turkey now also becomes a favorite transit region for those who are going to or away from Syria.

But on the other hand, Turkey benefited from the animosity between ISIS with the Kurds. A number of Kurdish regions has even been occupied by ISIS. Of course this makes Turkey happy because during the Kurdish uprising, thousands of soldiers and civilians Turkey have been killed beaten by Kurdish bullets and bombs. This fact makes Turkish government see that the biggest security threat to the country is the armed uprising of Kurds.


Turkey also sees, there are petrodollar and political rulers in the Arab world behind ISIS. They support ISIS as they aim to liberate Iraq and Syria from the grip of the Shiites, because they themselves are Sunni. This is why Turkey's current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mevlut Cavusoglu is so insistent that ISIS issue should be resolved through cooperation with Middle East countries, which are also the main markets of his country.


Meanwhile pressure is also increasingly hard for Turkey to be more serious in preventing people who want to cross to Syria. UN security council data through the monitoring team of the UN's sanction implementation which was released late last year said that about 15,000 people from over 80 countries entered Syria and Iraq fought alongside ISIS via Turkey.

Turkey also allegedly bought oil from ISIS and becomes a pathway for the smuggling of weapons and war equipment. Hoshyar Zebari -- Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Iraq -- has revealed that ISIS controls a number of oil fields in Syria and Iraq. Oil from the fields are then smuggled through land brokered by Turkey.

To relieve the pressure from international community, Turkish government now do seems to be more serious in dealing with the border crossers, including checks on all the goods which they bring from or to Syria. But, as long as Kurdish rebels still undermines the Turkey security and uses Syria as its military base, then Turkey will still prefer supporting ISIS,  because the ISIS attacks against Kurdish military camps give more sense of security to Turkey.


Thus, it's impossible for the US and its Western allies have different views with Turkey,  related to the involvement of authorities in oil-rich countries in ISIS. Together with Turkey, the United States see the economic and diplomatic relations with these countries are too valuable to be ignored, if it is done only for ISIS.


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[CZ — PF111714]

Tofu and Politics

Even the best Parliament can be like a tofu factory, it's rotten. Imagine the tofu factory : in the kitchen, soybean piles trampled with bare feet (who knows if it's trampled by the feet mangy?), trampled in order to be pulverized, then mixed with water which are becoming more like mucus. Not surprisingly, the word "tofu" is derived from the Chinese language, and the word "fu" means "rotten". But from the foul-smelling factory born hundreds of cubes which later became tofu, and people enjoy it.

Even the best Parliament can be like a tofu factory. It is the birthplace of various laws, and every law is basically a statement of hope that life can be made better. Look at the laws governing the environmental care or the labor protection laws. Law is a constructive tool. But how it is processed until it's born is a matter that is not always compatible with  the taste of prophet's sanctity.

A friend whispered to me, "If on one day you come from the clean library with its lights bright, and you enter into a parliament building to witness how the legislation produced, you'll be fed up."

You will see that for a bill, lawmakers are not only arguing, but they are also elbowing or stroking each other. Parties who are yelling at each other, will become sycophants when needed. The politicians relentlessly in bargaining position, with face pretending sweet or pretending fierce before a bill is passed.

Even the best Parliament can be like a combination of tofu and theater. The process of working there, such as the process of making tofu, do not be in a sterile tube. Nothing is 100 percent finished. All evolved from round to round, through dialogue and mask game. The proposal to give birth to the rule of law -- no matter how unfair the rules -- can't be dictated.

In a democratic parliament, no case can be decided unilaterally. Compromise always happens. I give X to you, you give me Y. Of course there are common sense and a sense of justice who work there, but there are also a lot of interest, and they are not always noble.

Some say -- when they see the parliament is the same as tofu factory -- that "politics is dirty". However, a note should be added here. Some say "politics is dirty" with disgust to the process of democracy, because democracy -- indeed -- can be a bit like buying and selling, and buying and selling is the work of merchant caste in the market, not the aristocratic caste.

The politicians are elected by the people, and therefore they must be smart to market themselves to gain the support, including they also must be able to talk nonsense when their voters want to hear their crap, right? So, It's not surprisingly, when the saints took power -- such as Calvin in Geneva in the 16th century or the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in the 20th century, they rejected democracy.

Democracy is the bidding process. "Bargain" in the sense disappearance of something 100 percent viscous, and "bargaining" in the sense of expressing other possibilities.

Therefore, Machiavelli -- who said that in public areas people "had to learn how to not be good" -- can be considered as democratic political thinker. He pronounced it, perhaps with a bit of scorn and provocation, when what is considered "good" had been distorted by the Church. Perverted into something absolute. In fact, for him, the absolute was not included in the lives of people crowded in the world. Machiavelli did not believe in political move by faith, which gave birth to the war ideology or rigid "inner political". He saw, -- with realism sharp eye -- that in the world of people crowded, the pure holy never happened.

Where things are considered "good"? Do we need the value? We, who shifted a little to get out of a violent period, and lies, would shout, "We need it! We need it! "And indeed, it is necessary.

But every hunger blurs the line between needs and virtual, which, as mentioned in a poem, "The shadow of the coming dawn ...". The virtual moving between light and dark, between the dark and hope, easily becomes an obsession. And our obsession now is to look at the political process as a process of purification, even a purity process.

But the virtual can be misleading. If we need "something good", then "something good"  is certainly a natural part of our world. Reasonable means proceeding from the assumption that it can be touched by the bidding process. Therefore, when the "good" can't be considered fresh and negotiable, then it becomes violent.

For me, a rotten smell parliament as well as tofu factory is better than the kind of violence. Yet tofu factory finally delivers something cheap, tasty, and without cholesterol, as parliament gives birth the definite legislation but does not clog the human life.
***


[CZ-lacalifusa010715]

Fundamental Nature of American Foreign Policy

How far Obama will bring America? This is a question that continues to bother me when I watch his steps in the early days of his leadership: he ordered the closure of underground prisons of NATO in Europe, he closed the Guantanamo prison, he made a declassification on President George W. Bush memo that allowing "torture "against the prisoners, and he offered a more sane communication and more productive with the other countries which -- so far -- included in the category of America's enemies. He is proficient and confident in performing his decisions. And he's good at communicating.

"You can expect the tireless efforts of the government to increase the prosperity and our security in the second hundred days, the third hundred days, and the rest of the day after," he said in a speech of his first 100 days leading the government. The American people put confidence in his steps. The most recent poll by Gallup gave approval to Obama by 65 percent.

Earlier, during the campaign, he had shown himself to be a great communicator who managed to convince the majority of Americans to vote for him and entrusted the presidency to him. It's a gigantic project for a citizen of African descent who bears the "funny name" -- a term he himself used in a book he wrote - a name that suggests the Islamic roots of his father's side, and he succeeded brilliantly in the project. And his success to become the number one in White House, however, has aroused a sensation and a certain expectation in the world of American politics today, and it extends to various parts of the world.

During his first hundred days, the world saw the appearance of an American president who was much different from the previous president, George W. Bush who imagining himself as the leader of "modern Crusade" while echoing the war against terrorism, to whatever action he meant as terrorism. Obama opened communication. Bush impressed himself as a person who just wanted to know what was in his own mind, what he wanted, and how it was realized for whatever reason, even when the reason was proven untrue. And Bush is not the only American president who likes to do so. We know the name of Lyndon B. Johnson, who made a false excuse to demolish Vietnam and Laos, Nixon for Chile and Cambodia, Reagan to Nicaragua and El Salvador, and so on. There are dozens of the U.S. maneuver and intervention and it often involves  false pretenses of the government in power.

Until the end of the twentieth century, the United States recorded has sent more than 250 million soldiers to fight in other countries; and within the period after World War II to the present, the U.S. is the most industrious nation in waging war in other countries. The amount of course has been increasing with the war waged by George W. Bush in Afghanistan and Iraq at the beginning of the 21st century.

Now we see Obama offers "different language" in the U.S. association with other nations. Obama is like having the willingness to communicate with the language used by the interlocutor and bringing the conversation to a more constructive level. It is not surprising that we can expect the emergence of a new chapter in relations with countries such as Cuba, Venezuela, and even towards better in diplomacy with Iran.

At least Obama is offering a communication patterns that are not encountered in some of his predecessors, who likes to put themselves at the center of the "good-bad ratings", which therefore they tend to intervene and send troops to fight. Obama has a remarkable ability to build closeness with anyone he spoke. He has skills as an accomplished communicator who is able to change the behavior of others. If we look at how the late President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, thrusting his hand shaking him, and there we see how Obama has made him acceptable to the party that originally asserted its harsh attitude to the U.S..

Is Obama an anomaly? So far, yes. Especially if we trace further back, about the history of the U.S. lunge in many countries in almost all parts of the earth, which begins with the CIA maneuver at first, followed later by sending troops after the "reason" is found, and ends with the formation of a new government in the country that supports the U.S. interests. If the intervention fails to give birth to a new government, the United States will make efforts to impose sanctions and exclusion of the country concerned.

Three Pillars of the US government
Intelligence, military, and industry: these are the three pillars, which so far underlying the U.S. interests with its foreign policy, especially with its relation with the third world countries. And the three pillars always need enemies. Military and CIA require the enemy as the reason for their existence. Industry -- especially the defense contractor -- require it as an enemy to be fought, with advanced weaponry and air defense systems; and the enemy of their enemy should be armed.

The corporate wealth has become inflated, exceeding the wealth of a number of countries in the world. The executives of these corporations enjoy this abundance thanks to the designation themselves as the world's policemen. Their wealth and influence -- accompanied by the submission of media required to maintain and perpetuate fear, previously the fear of "communism" and now the fear of "terrorism" -- has been going on for decades and became stronger. Three pillars have natural properties which leads to the intervention of the enemies. It is inevitable.

In cases such as Grenada, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, even if the intervention target was not promising economic opportunities abound for the U.S. multinationals, but the CIA and the US armed forces felt obliged to intervene. Rhetoric and socialist-revolutionary program has always been a threat that must be stopped to preserve the principle, and also as a warning to others. Cases with small states which occurs repeatedly, shows how scared the U.S. against the emergence of "good example" of the Third World: the birth of an independent society that is not tied to Washington.

In the cold war, every government and movement which launched a program and such rhetoric certainly could not be a US ally. Countries that could not serve as an ally in the Cold War, of course would be declared as "communist". To combat it, then later was created a counter term, namely "national security". It's a flicker of motion which  refers solely from the proverbial, "If there is no communist, then America have to find it."

With the phrase "national security" as an excuse, vocabulary of the "communist" (and also "Marxist") has been used in excess, and abused in such a way by the U.S. leaders and the mass media so that it becomes completely meaningless. I own myself have experienced such a period, ie when all expressions of disappointment or book discussion was yelled, "Communist!". You also often say the same thing to me, dahling, mmmm .... as if at that time I was kind of bugs and you were ready to get rid of me from the sidelines of your book pages. "Communist!" Yeah? And you are nerds, damn!

Well, indeed, the enemy need to be named, and also characteristics, and by calling it on all the time -- I dunno, as a communist or a witch -- then the fear can be conditioned and we become convinced of its existence.

"We have to fight them," US officials said. And "they" could mean farmers in the Philippines, mural painter in Nicaragua, the elected prime minister in the election in British Guiana, the European intellectuals, the neutral Cambodian people, the African nationalists, and anyone who is desired by the U,S.. They become part of the unilateral conspiracy, and imaged as a threat for the America's live views. During the cold war, no other threat which was more terrifying than the "communist threat". At the present time, there is nothing more terrible than the "terrorist threat", so George W. Bush to call for a crusade and the destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan. (We will know the lies behind the U.S. invasion mission to the two countries. Bush, you are mentally ill!)

Conspiracy Mentality
With regard to "communism",  when the name has been given and the fear has been increased then the next step is to find its common traits which deserve to be fought. Thus, we arrive at the next question, "What are the similarities in each country which then becomes the target of the onslaught and deserves to be bombarded with bombs by the most powerful country in the world?"

In every case in the third world countries, they deserve to be targeted when making the U.S. uncomfortable with the policy of "stand on our own feet". We've recorded a time when third world countries inflamed by passion and spirit to liberate themselves from Western colonialism and wanted a free standing between the two powers clashed.

It is the spirit of the times which generally manifested in three forms of stance :
(1) The ambition to liberate themselves from economic dependency and political obedience to the U.S.,
(2) The failure to minimize relations with the socialist bloc, or a reluctance to press the left in their own country, or a refusal to open up to U.S. military installations in their country,
(3) The emergence of an effort to replace the government that does not run all of these goals.

America has its own commentary in dealing with countries that develop a passion like this: they are anti-American. In the current perspective, the tendency to maintain the neutrality of the state has been able to give birth to a pro-communist accusations. Throughout the cold war, the U.S. repeatedly demonstrated its unpreparedness to deal with a neutral attitude shown by the leaders of third world countries, as well as its displeasure against the rhetoric and revolutionary movements in these countries. Mosaddegh of Iran, Sukarno of Indonesia, Nkrumah of Ghana, Sihanouk of Cambodia, all of them -- according to the U.S. -- had to declare themselves firmly on the side of the "Free World", well, the free world commanded by the U.S.. There are serious consequences if they refuse to do it.

Responding to pressure from the West, Kwame Nkrumah, president of Ghana in 1960-1966, expressed his opinion as follows, "The experiments we try to apply in Ghana in essence is to build the country in cooperation with the world as a whole. That's actually called by the non-aligned countries. We are not hostile to the socialist countries, as done by the ex-colonial countries. I hope you remember, when the Britain tries to develop peaceful relations with the Soviet Union, the same thing should not be done by its ex-colonial countries. Books about socialism, which is published and sold freely in the UK are banned in its colonies countries. And after Ghana becomes independent, the assumption never changed. Ghana's independence is required to continue restrictive ideological approach as before. When we do the same with the Britain in dealing with the socialist countries, we are accused of being pro-Russian and we are accused of carrying very dangerous ideas for Africa."

The situation in third world countries as described by Nkrumah reminds us of the dark situation in the southern U.S. in the 19th century. At that time there were a lot of slaves afflicted and they then chose to join their friends in the North in the Civil War. The white people in South continued to defend the idea that the black people were supposed to be grateful for what had been done by their white employers, and they should be happy about it. A doctor from the South, Samuel Cartwright, stating that many slaves at that time suffering from mental illness, which he called "Drapetomania". According to the diagnosis, it is a mental illness caused by the uncontrolled desire to free themselves from slavery.

In the second half of the 20th century, the same disease is called "Communism". And at the beginning of the 21st century, the disease -- perhaps -- is called "Terrorism".

Still with regard to communism, in 1960 appeared a witty report submitted by the National Commission about the causes and prevention of violence. The commission reported that J. Edgar Hoover -- a criminologist who for many years served as the FBI director -- has helped to spread the view among police that the mass protest, whatever its form, has always had a relationship with conspiracy driven by the agitators, and of course those who are referred to as the instigator are the communists who "likes to create misdirection to please the public".

Key to the report is in the last phrase, one thing that shows the mentality of conspiracy among the holders of power. They always assume that no one -- except under the influence of the enemy -- can move a mass protest. Protests occur certainly instigated from outside, from the communists who try to mislead them.

One thing we need to consider is they forget that until now CIA which has the largest role  in sowing sedition in various countries to make the situation is uncertain and the various attempts to overthrow the government in other countries.

The entire state archives which has been declassified -- you can see it  on the National Security Archive website -- shows how vivid and rough the maneuvers performed by the CIA in making the situation of a country becomes chaotic.

If Reagan admitted that the people of El Salvador have strong reason to revolt on their bad luck, then, one thing questionable is the accusation he made about the alliance of Soviet Union, Cuba, and Nicaragua which had incited them. For that reason, he then intervened in El Salvador, with preliminary operations by the CIA to prepare extra-legal lie for the sake of the position of people who were supported by him at the top of the government seat.

Post-Cold War Adventure
Practically, the Cold War ended when the Soviet Union -- which by Ronald Reagan called the "Evil Empire" -- broke up in 1991, about five years after Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader, launched the policy of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring). Then the world witnessing the beginning of a new era that is no more reassuring: World Police era. The implication is the same; when there is no enemy, then the U.S. must find it. And the reason must always be available for the U.S. to continue the adventure.

Towards the end of the1990s, Washington was busy engaging in a serious effort to control elections in countries which previously was Soviet bloc : Russia, Mongolia, and Bosnia. In 1999, they bombed the people of Serbia and Kosovo for 78 days, which at the time it was going to last forever. Balkan war has devastated the countries there. At its peak, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia -- which was called as "the last communist" by Washington -- divided into six small states.

After Balkan episode, then the U.S. did other adventures in the fall of 2001 to intervene openly in the elections in Nicaragua to impede the left's victory. At the same time, it bombarding Afghanistan, and continued its adventures by giving destruction in Iraq.

While continuing savagery against Afghanistan, in 2002 Washington taking the time to hire the support needed in an effort to overthrow Hugo Chavez and his populist government in Venezuela. Throughout these years, while it was still strangling Cuba after centuries of imperialist occupation, the U.S. refused to vacate Guantanamo military base. The U.S. changed Guantanamo into a detention camp for illegal and poor prisoners, as well as for a number of people who were abducted from various places around the world, in what was touted as the War on Terrorism.

There is no peace after Cold War ended. For nearly half a century the officials busy feeding their people with the indoctrination of Cold War, and they force people to fight against the inhabitants of other countries with dishonest reasons.

The military budget swelled so large by one thing that constantly instilled into the minds of citizens, namely that they were fighting to combat the same threat: International Communist Conspiracy, its headquarters in Moscow. But then the Soviet Union crumbled. Warsaw Pact also disappeared. Satellite states of Eastern Europe had become independent states. Communist traces even changed and became a capitalist. But until the end of George W. Bush reign, nothing has changed with U.S. foreign policy.

Even NATO, a defense pact that is established -- supposedly -- to protect Western Europe from the Soviet invasion, still standing upright. Its troops and weaponry become more sophisticated, and NATO becomes a vehicle continuously lubricated so it will revolve smoothly to any foreign political Washington directs it. The U.S. and its NATO allies to act as a substitute for the government on the Balkans as protectorate region. The U.S. also takes advantage of NATO treaty as justification for its members to join the U.S. to invade Afghanistan.

When Russia closing the Cold War bases in Eastern Europe, Vietnam, and Cuba, the US even opened its military bases in areas of the former Soviet Union and in other countries. When Russia closed its intelligence radio station in Lourdes, Cuba, the US even built sophisticated eavesdroppers station in Latvia, right on the border of Russia, as part of global interception system of Washington.

Everything becomes a game full of trickery. The Soviet Union and the so-called communism has never been, and indeed so far not, the object of Washington global attacks. International Communist Conspiracy is just magic created by the U.S.. Real enemies for America always just government or movement, or even individuals, who are considered blocking the expansion of the U.S. Empire -- whatever the name given by the United States against them -- communist, criminal states, drug dealers, terrorists, intellectuals, artists, and so on. You remember, John Lennon -- the Beatles frontman -- was the man who for many years and until his death being followed by FBI.

 So, how far Obama will bring America? It becomes a serious question, because he himself already "promising" with a few steps and his approach, in his first 100 days, his success or failure within his second 100 days, third, and so on, especially in building the relationships between nations and interstates become healthier, it seems to be very determined initially by how much he is able or not able to reframe the basic nature of U.S. foreign policy. The problem is, their long history of interfering in the affairs of other countries and sending troops to realize what they want even have given arbitrary pride and narcissistic within their admirers. I admire you, dahling, but I am not wowed by the government of your country. Trust me.

Robert Kagan, a leading man who establishing the U.S. foreign policy, with full confidence said, "The fact is that the benevolent hegemony which is run by the U.S. is a good thing for most of the inhabitants of the earth. It certainly is the best alternative and realistic than all the alternatives that may exist." And this opinion is shared by a number of others, including Michael Hirsch, editor of Newsweek magazine, which assumes that the U.S. privileges in carrying out its foreign policy is something that is accepted as a "gratitude for their historical gains that have been protected by a force that could be considered generous."

That's how they agree on foreign policy and be able to live peacefully with it. And its implications can be very worrying: the U.S. may do anything and if the U.S. is forced to fight, then it must be done by humane.

Well, and I ask myself, "How many millions of casualties by "the generous power of the U.S.", hm?"
***
[CZ-lacalifusa122514]



Reference Books
■ Agee, Philip. Inside the Company: CIA Diary, Bantam; second printing edition , Januari, 1984
■ Blum, William. Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Monroe, ME: Common Courage, 1995.
■ Rogue States: The Rule of Force in World Affairs. South End, 2000.
■ Kornbluh, Peter. Nicaragua, The Price of Intervention: Reagan's War Against the Sandinistas. Washington, DC: Institute for Policy Studies, 1987.
■ Kwitny, Jonathan. Endless Enemies: The Making of an Unfriendly World. New York: Congdon & Weed, 1984.
■ The Guerrilla Wars of Central America: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.
■ Quigley, John. The Ruses for War: American Interventionism Since World War II. Buffalo: Prometheus, 1992.
■ Stockwell, John. In Search of Enemies: a CIA Story. W.W. Norton, 1978.
■ White, Richard. The Morass: United States Intervention in Central America. New York: Harper, 1984.
■ Woodward, Bob. Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987


Internet Reading
■ The Globalization of Politics: American Foreign Policy for a New Century
■ Foreign Policy in Perspective
■ President Obama's foreign policy is based on fantasy
■ Remaking the World: Progressivism and American Foreign Policy 
■ Have We Hit Peak America?


Declassified secret documents can be found among others in:
■ National Security Archive - The George Washington University
■ Forgotten History
■ Virtual Reading Room Documents Search : U.S. Department of State

4 July

But Napoleon had fired his voice to the old man's freedom fighter, "Who declares that insubordination is a liability?"

In the age of 19 years, a French nobleman child go to war -- across the ocean -- away to another continent, America. Sadly he left his wife to fight, not for people of his compatriots, but for a group of foreign insurgents. What the hell was he looking for? History later recalled that Gilbert de Lafayette went wide across the Atlantic Ocean in the 18th century, because of his love to an unclear case : independence.

But perhaps its case was not as simple as that. At first, indeed, it was a statement dated July 4, 1776, which was signed by a number of regional representatives in the British colonies in America. Its contents: an announcement of the government's power uprising in London. The declaration also a justification which then shook the whole world: that people have the right to abolish a government that they do not agree.

July 4, 1776 Statement away from Philadelphia was heard up in France three months later - too late, as many particulars in the 18th century. At that time, Versailles still a center of political power, the continuation of magnificent era of the "Sun King", Louis XIV, in power indefinitely. The aristocracy still alive with shimmering wealth. No one was suing them seriously. The poorer classes screamed but only echoed in the dark rooms.



Gilbert de Lafayette, of course, no need to scream. He was a descendant of the old nobles. He was rich, he was the heir of a large land with an income of 145 thousand lire a year. His parents-in-law also came from famous Noallles clan, close to the king. But anyway, he went a number of rebels who sided with their  uncertain fate. He felt uneasy.

Lafayette biography, written by Olivier Bernier in 1983, tells it all: behind Lafayette's brilliant background, he was marginalized. This slim and unhandsome teenager, who lost his father since childhood, who came from the area Chavaniac far from the capital, when he was an adult, he became a clumsy man.

For a clumsy man, the nobles at Versailles was a wretched place. Here the young men preened and perfumed, handsome and sage, flexible and haughty, between beautiful women and delicious wine. But not with Gilbert. In quadrilles dance hosted by the Queen, he even be laughable: he fell down.

Lafayette went from a situation like that. Of course, he was well aware of his own shortcomings. But the dismissive view from around him, even from his father-in-law, made him always tend to take a big step to prove. So he went to America, without the palace permission, with a ship bought from his own money.

As he wrote in an honest letter, he did all of it not just for the defenders of freedom who tried to defend themselves in the newly established United States. He also wanted to acquire what was expected by the French aristocratic society of the glories of youth : la gloire.

And it turned out he was succeeded, after a series of mistakes and frustration and stupidity. With a number of rebel soldiers he led, together with French regiment which was then sent to assist, Lafayette joined the British forces who tried to defeat the insurgency across the Atlantic. The clumsy man -- who had been ridiculed in Versailles -- then became a byword in salons in Paris.

But the story of Lafayette is not just a story with theme of the ugly duckling who later becomes a dashing swan. The character story is a story about an understanding of the independence process , the man who came from the world who actually did not want independence.

What is gained by Lafayette finally not just glory. From America he gained the fame of a pro La Liberte, and he continues to put himself there.



Then the French Revolution ensued. The aristocrats eradicated, the King and Queen were beheaded, and the world moved into a new era. Lafayette was in the arena: a person who was considered hostile to his own class, and finally rejected at any party, especially when the Revolution -- which at first chanted "freedom" -- later evolved into the machine of independence suppressor..



That was about Napoleon, the revolution officer, who then he became a dictator, and made ​​himself as the Supreme king, and ruled practically without limit. Lafayette declined an offer to sit in the Senate. His relationship with the new regime was broken. So, when one day it was known that a general trying to overthrow the new Supreme king, Lafayette then was suspected. He was not arrested, because he was not involved. But Napoleon had fired his voice to the old freedom fighter, "Who declares that insubordination is a liability?"

lafayette
[CZ-070414]

Barack Obama

Weep no more, my lady,
Oh weep no more today

You're back to the corner illuminated by the sun in the forest shade. You came back with imperfect time machine, but still you heard the chorus, My Old Kentucky Home, moody song that for many years was heard even afar off from Mississippi river, since Stephen Foster wrote it in 1853. Black slaves who tried respite from scorching and fatigue in the tobacco fields. A simple distraction from the long routine that never named as "Sucking". A corner of the forest into a hidden chamber. A space for people who were chained and humiliated to gather and to ask, "What exactly is all this?"

You did not know when you're coming. But with the imperfect time machine you saw an old woman speaking in front of the assembly, in front of the congregation who were afraid to mention the Lord's name. She reminded you to Baby Suggs in Beloved by Toni Morrison. You heard her talking about something amazing but ignored, something ordinary but unexpected: meat, hides, bones, joints which could bear the brunt and bondage blow, tears glands, congested heart before the tears, the body that heals its own wounds, body of the pain can sing, dance, sing.

My brothers and sisters, our bodies can surprise us. Sometimes with valor. Sometimes with beauty. Everything is limited, but with it we reach the infinite. Everything is mortal, but each time it gives eternal meaning. So do not cry anymore.

You see the people brooded. Maybe you do not know why: they want to believe. But they also heard, there's Fate at the top of the body. Something remains. Tough. Straight and brightly lit. Whose hands spread its own power, permeated into the brain, speck-by-speck.

The brain is then producing reasons. Been born explicit explanation, that there's fate that put pigment in the skin. Our pigments make our nature. There are black people, there's "nigger", there is also the "white". The colors directing history. Identity is a fortune-teller. There is the essence before existence.

But is it true the Fate designing everything? In Mississippi's forest assemblies, the old woman said modestly, "My brothers, the darkness is with us."

The darkness behind the pores, in the niche of red blood cells and lymph. The darkness in a hoarse voice, in the song Old Black Joe which became heavy when dying. The darkness of death, the darkness words of God which we do not always understand. The darkness which dodging from the fate which more and more white.

"The darkness that let us not have a name, which dismisses name when name is a list belonging to our gentlemen. This is a shady forest darkness. The darkness that protects us from cruelty."

Blood on the leaves
And blood at the root
Black bodies swinging
In the southern breeze
Strange fruits hanging
From  the poplar trees



You never see the cruelty. Your imperfect time machine just found the portrait of George Hughes's body hanging from a tree branch. Not only hanged. He was burned. This is Sherman, Texas, 1930.

You can read in the town's library : a nigger hodge was arrested for the murder of his employer and raping the lord's wife. In a small village which was sparsely populated, circulating whispers," Hughes is an animal who knows exactly what he wants."

Skin-white farmers who lived in the village had a reason for more wildly than before. They who forever scared of, suspected, and hated to creatures with different pigments had an excuse. They stormed the courthouse where Hughes arrested. They burned it. They dragged Hughes out and they threw him on the truck. The police did not do anything, even they helped to regulate the traffic. In a field near the residence of blacks, Hughes tied and hoisted to the top of a tree. Large fire was lit.

In a portrait you see: Hughes in a low tree.

Orosco immortalized the scene in a lithograph from 1934, Negros Colgados. See, not only a "nigger". Dead bodies hanging like dozens of strange fruit. Billie Holiday revealed it in Strange Fruits: half husky voice, with a melancholy that seemed to have so breath: Blood on the leaves / Blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze / Strange fruit hangin' from the poplar trees.



There is something else on that song, which first appeared in Orosco's lithographic : trees and branches -- without leaves -- as if it confirms the strength of the straight, straightforward, stand-up. Also it is a compelling exhibition. Orosco in advertently reminds us that a country, a system, is a strong building because it shows something straight and at the same time threatening. In other words: bitterness.

Cruelty is often covered with the words: "intact", "harmony", "consensus", as if something precious has been achieved. As if there is no political struggle behind it. As if there is only the God's architectures.

But Billie Holiday's song reveals the hidden contradictions: she whispered about South American hinterland which have the gallant history, the gallant South, but she immediately called the facial pain of black people being suffocated. She called "the sweet fresh scent of magnolia flowers ", but in the next line "the smell of burning skin wafted suddenly".

Each system is formed by the taxonomy of "white", "black", "bourgeois", "proletarian", "original", "non-native", "majority", "minority". Each taxonomy begins with falsehood and coercion.

But this means there is no hand of fate designing. There is no essence of what is done before. There is no essence before existence. Division, especially racial segregation, is entirely the result of a political process. The "black" is not so "black" because it's created for "black", but because it's stamped and censused and grouped into the category of "black". History of "black" and "white" is a history of struggle, sometimes with battle, sometimes with the shout to bring forward, in unison, marching, a thousand cries of hot vocal cords.

Yes, we can
Yes, we can

You hear the sound in human crowd in Grant Park, Chicago, 4 November 2008 night. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. We -- people say it -- can make an American with a strange name chosen to be president with a convincing support. We can change the historical legacy that has fueled the Civil War in the 19th century. We're able to shake the tree where ruthlessness displayed as if a beautiful structure.

But this is not just a victory story which can traverse the taxonomy of black-and-white. This is primarily a story about the triumph of the other understanding of "politics". Because what comes with Obama is not politics as tips to get what is possible. In the year 2008, in the U.S. we just watched "politics" as desire, half desperate, to achieve the impossible.

Indeed, the impossible will be forever the impossible. But the impossible to be meaningful because it calls continuously, and it makes us feel something infinite, which seems to cause millions of people are willing to queue for hours to select and change history: they call it Justice, or Freedom, or any other name that inspires the heart. Just as a haltingly love but quite sincere, such as one stanza rhyme but quite thrilling.

Like the bodies you see singing in the forest.

Weep no more, my lady,
Oh, weep no more today.


[CZ-lacalifusa051614]

Clash of Civilizations Return of the 'Battle' of U.S. versus China

Globalization has affected the world order and its various aspects in it, not just the interaction between countries, but also between human groups and individuals. Geopolitical order is not immune from attacks of globalization, especially when this issue has expanded its various aspects in it. Boundaries between political geography and geographical politics is no longer clear. The interaction between them is a form of embodiment of interrelated systems, especially system states, geographical space, as well as various aspects implied in it.

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, visited the Forbidden City in Beijing on Friday.

U.S. and Chinese's competition in various sectors

The U.S. is a post-Cold War hegemony as a global superpower. As a hegemon, the U.S. will encounter many rivals in the world, one of which is China as an emerging nation which oppose U.S. hegemony dominance. China is emerging as one of the strengths of the developing world that can compete with the U.S. both in terms of economic, military, and political.

Ruth A. Neugebauer argued that the competition between the U.S. and China rising, along with the security of energy resources and economic alliance formation. The economy is an important aspect in the context of this competition even though not a single aspect of the global competitive struggle for influence and power. Aspects of the military, political, and culture is an important feature in this competition to accommodate identity, even though the economy becomes the most visible issue.

Derek Scissors explained that the power issue in the U.S. compete with China in the economic realm was clearly visible, but the claim was inaccurate and tend to be wrong even though it was a dangerous thing. He explained that China was economically compete with the U.S. in economic growth, but overall the country was still lagging behind when compared to the U.S.. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was U.S. $ 14.86 billion, while China was only $ 4.99 trillion. It also affected the other sides, including the unemployment rate; U.S. about 14%, while China still has about 27.1% unemployment. Apart from the GDP and the unemployment rate, energy side and Chinese corruption index still showed backwardnes if compared with the U.S.. These developments indicate that there is another side besides developing economies so that China can compete with the U.S.. Economics does not stand alone, but it is supported by a variety of other elements that underlie a country.

The U.S. victory in economic terms can not be separated from his victory in the clash of civilizations as an example of the type of the most civilized civilization. Civility forming the human and social interaction so that all aspects of life refers to the ideas, culture, and western style (The U.S.). Thus the U.S. can easily export its culture to be enjoyed and consumed by audience through the cultural industries, such as pop culture. This is one aspect that can not be rivaled by China, which is when the culture becomes one of the essential commodities and affects the economic sphere.


Clash of civilizations between U.S. and China

Competition between the U.S. and China is visible from the side of the economy, but more than that, this competition has led to the shape of a clash of civilizations. Clash of civilizations is Samuel Huntington's thesis to see the constellation of post-Cold War global interaction. Civilization emerged as a superior form of cultural similarities and differences in the integration between cultures within a particular civilization corridor. Cultural interaction in civilization can be categorized through cooperation, following a dominant culture (bandwagon), and the unification of various cultures within a civilization (merger). These three forms are the forms of accommodation as well as competition from various cultures in civilization.

The U.S. is part of Western civilization, while China is the Sinic civilization . Both of these civilizations compete in various aspects of civilization, not just economic . Economics is merely one aspect of a whole civilization, although the economy can not be separated from the dynamics of the civilization. Huntington states that the economic aspect only connect between civilizations. When the economy connect a civilization with other civilizations, then aspects of other civilizations also compete. The other side like culture also plays an important role in civilization. Culture is the dominant form of conflict and competition in interaction between civilizations. When competition tapering towards the confrontation into the clash, the interaction between civilizations will not refer to the forms of cooperation and trust. Culture is a concept that covers various aspects of life, including the economy, which bases itself on various underlying culture.

Huntington explains that the conflict between civilizations can be both micro and macro. At the micro level, the conflict tends to be a fault line conflict; country located in the intersection area of ​​culture. This conflict still between countries and between regions in a particular part of the world, This side more shows an open conflict through violence and weaponry. At the macro aspect, the conflict is among civilizations in core-state conflict. This conflict shows its significance in the struggle for influence, military rivalry, economic invasion, the flow of human, cultural values ​, as well as the seizure of a particular region. This conflict reflects two important things; clash between civilizations and between cultures. Both of these show the significance of culture in a pluralistic culture. In the global aspects, the culture in major civilizations indicates a change in the balance of power. Power is not the only aspect of economic-political-military, but also the culture. Competition between the U.S. and China clash of civilizations is a form of macro. This competition does not indicate the significance of violence open through cultural differences , but more than that, the military - economic aspects of culture overlapping each other. This shows the significance of competition between civilizations. Civilization can not be in conflict with each other, but the strategy aspects in it are mutually contradictory, especially when meeting in a particular issue.

Obama and Xi

Clash between the West (U.S.) and East Asian (Chinese) shows significant aspect of the history of Chinese socialism and the rapid economic growth of the country. Economic side supports the existence of civilization itself -- Economy also is a civilization -- namely  when the side is able to mobilize the military industrialization, to minimize dependence on the western world, as well as the expansion of Chinese influence in Southeast Asia. These three things lead to the perception of a threat to both civilizations, especially when differences of culture refers to the tendency of balancing or bandwagoning strategy. Through the improvement of national self-image, tendency of the balance of power which happens to be difficult to determine. On the side between parts of the world, China rivaling the U.S. with an increase in the economic and human resources, while in some parts of the world, China plays an important role in influencing various ideas in Southeast Asia, particularly in ASEAN countries to improve the standard of living in Southeast Asia. This becomes a contradiction in itself, especially when the China influence in Southeast Asia leads to bandwagoning to China. China in this case wants to balance the power of western civilization in Southeast Asia, but what is happening is a shift from the west to the Chinese dependence. This of course poses a threat perceptions  for the U.S.. Balancing and bandwagoning side is not lower the tension of competition between the U.S. and China, but increasingly sharpening the conflict through external conflict influences.


Significance of the clash of civilizations between U.S. and China

U.S. and Chinese competition is more on a clash of civilizations rather than economic competition. U.S. and China to compete in the various elements of civilization, not just economic. Civilization is not only related to the economy, but rather is a collection of identity and culture which has similarities and differences in them. Huntington said that civilization consisted of elements values​​, beliefs, orientations, practices, and institutions related to humans. The five elements demonstrate the superiority of identity and culture in the community which is manifested in the state's form. State reflects the five elements are in the community incorporated into a particular civilization.

This thesis against Fouad Ajami writing which explains that economy and a discussion of welfare is more discussed dominantly in the state competition, not a clash of civilizations. Economics is just one factor concerning the above five elements. Civilization is the most appropriate form in explaining the phenomenon of competition between the U.S. and China. Civilization reflects identity which practically manifested in the forms of economic, military, cultural, and political. This is what actually collides in the realm of civilization. On the one hand, the existence of economic, military, cultural, and political indeed  can not be circumvented in the U.S. and Chinese competition, but these four things are only linkages in practical relationship in an interaction. More than that, these four things show more superior civilization which clashing in the form of this competition.

Ajami said Huntington forgot the element of secularism and modernity in a country. He pointed out that Indian secularism was still dominant in the Indian society. He showed the insignificant of religion in government. Religion can not be involved in a form of government because both are different things; religion based on the spiritual, whereas the government of a country indicates the nature of the world. Countries in economic concepts using different ideas with the concept of religion. That's why he also stressed that religious fanaticism was not likely to occur in the realm of state and middle class society, as a result of globalization.

In the concept of competition between the U.S. and China, civilization plays an important thing, especially in terms of religion. The concept of Indian secularism is a legacy of knowledge of Britain as its occupier. It uses the concept of secularism differently, because Hindus do not base themselves on the knowledge of the government. The U.S. is a country based on Christianity in the forms of democracy, human rights, and free market policies. Through the doctrine of liberation, the U.S. accommodates its religion into government. It is free to implement democracy by looking at the side of human freedom as an essential thing. The political side is also manifested in the free economy with emphasis on liberalism. The U.S. government sees Christianity as a symbol of western civilization and interprets it in the form of state and society . It is also manifested in various aspects of practical state government to accommodate the interests of wider community. In the aspect of religious fanaticism, the U.S. allows accommodation throughout the country -- religious and non-religious-- in the lives of its people. It invites all forms of belief to live and thrive in the free area.

On the other hand, the China tends to be based on the teachings of Confucianism as the starting point of the Sinic civilization. Confucianism is not a religion  but the world's perception. In this side, Confucian values ​​are interpreted by the China government through a system of socialism in various aspects of governance. The China government defines Confucianism as communal understanding by looking at aspects of society.

China socialism based on agriculture as the main form of China economic society. Of these aspects, the China government implements a system based on Sinic civilization. System implemented by China in the aspects of state applied through all aspects of religious unification in the country. The state regulates all matters of religion and those who do not fit into the system will be labeled as a rebel by the China. This system also affects the economic sphere. With centralized economy, China accumulates power of natural and human resources for the country to progress. Religious fanaticism in this concept is also possible although still regulated by the state. State is a source of power for community, so that people can only access the power only from state.

The state is a strategy of modern civilization applied to other civilizations which triggers the clash. The state accommodates the religious aspect in community to be applied on the side of government. Competition between the U.S. and China in the economic side is just a derivative of strategy adopted, but not the core of  competition. Clash of civilizations is indeed a clash of civilizations, but more than that, it is a form of clash of civilizations strategy, namely the state. The concept of democratic socialism by China and the U.S. is not a civilization itself, but the excavation by the state as part of a civilization. Therefore, it can not be said with certainty that the competition between the U.S. and China is the competition between Confucianism and Christianity. They collide, but this occurs indirectly. The state should be responsible for it as a strategic form of civilization that is able to accommodate the elements of civilization.


State Dominance in Civilization

State as a strategic form of civilization is able to accommodate all the elements in the civilization. U.S. and Chinese competition shows what is stated by Ajami, "Civilizations do not control states, but the states control civilizations."

Civilization does not provide a strategic interpretation of what is to be done by the state, but the state itself as a capable form of strategic. Referring to what is said by Jack F. Matlock, "Civilizations are like gardens. How can the gardens collide?"

So, basically the clash of civilizations is the clash of civilizations strategy, namely the garden as a form of civilization, its plant become the elements of civilization, and man is state as a form of strategic who is able to bring the clash.
***


Readings Today :

1. US v China: is this the new cold war?
2. The Return of History - We are not locked in a new Cold War, but China and Russia are bringing back  Cold War tactics
3. What If There Was a Cold War Between the U.S. and China?
4. Russia as a U.S.- China Battleground State
5. Inside the Ring: U.S., China in war of words over South China Sea air zone 
6. US Analysts Debate Plans for War Against China 
7. What would a U.S.-Russia war look like?  
8. A Trade War with China?
9. News a nuclear war = soon to come 
10. Village Stability Operations and the Future of the American Way of War

[CZ-lacalifusa032314]
Eee exsqueeze me... dahliiing..., where do you hide my light blue satin kimono?

News Headlines (381) 3 October 2013

ONLINE TODAY

► Today you should put 'good conversation' at the top of your priority list! But in order to make it happen, you have to be ready to take things to a deeper level than you usually do -- with people you don't usually talk to. Small talk is for small minds, right now, and since you certainly are not one of those, why not prove it? Instead of asking about someone's weekend, ask them how they feel about, say, international politics. You might get an odd look, but you'll also get great insight into another person. This is not the right time to make lofty plans or to race off in exciting new directions -- you just have to take care of the boring, mundane tasks that occasionally take hold of your life.

Federal government

Starting in 1976, the United States Federal Government has shut down on 18 occasions

Year	Start date (exclu­sive)	End date (exclu­sive)	Total days	President	Senate	House	Circumstances
1976	Sep 30	Oct 11	10	Ford	Dem	Dem	Citing out of control spending, President Gerald Ford vetoed a funding bill for the United States Department of Labor and the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW), leading to a partial government shutdown. On October 1, the Democratically-controlled Congress overrode Ford's veto but it took until October 11 for a continuing resolution ending funding gaps for other parts of government to become law.
1977	Sep 30	Oct 13	12	Carter	Dem	Dem	The Democratically-controlled House continued to uphold the ban on using Medicaid dollars to pay for abortions, except in cases where the life of the mother was at stake. Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled Senate pressed to loosen the ban to allow abortion funding in the case of rape or incest. A funding gap was created when disagreement over the issue between the houses had become tied to funding for the Departments of Labor and HEW, leading to a partial government shutdown. A temporary agreement was made to restore funding through October 31, 1977, allowing more time for Congress to resolve its dispute.
1977	Oct 31	Nov 9	8	Carter	Dem	Dem	The earlier temporary funding agreement expired. President Jimmy Carter signed a second funding agreement to allow for more time for negotiation.
1977	Nov 30	Dec 9	8	Carter	Dem	Dem	The second temporary funding agreement expired. The House held firm against the Senate in its effort to ban Medicaid paying for the abortions of victims of statutory rape. A deal was eventually struck which allowed Medicaid to pay for abortions in cases resulting from rape, incest, or in which the mother's health is at risk.
1978	Sep 30	Oct 18	18	Carter	Dem	Dem	Deeming them wasteful, President Carter vetoed a public works appropriations bill and a defense bill including funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Spending for the Department of HEW was also delayed over additional disputes concerning Medicaid funding for abortion.
1979	Sep 30	Oct 12	11	Carter	Dem	Dem	Against the opposition of the Senate, the House pushed for a 5.5 percent pay increase for congress members and senior civil servants. The House also sought to restrict federal spending on abortion only to cases where the mother's life is in danger, while the Senate wanted to maintain funding for abortions in cases of rape and incest.
1981	Nov 20	Nov 23	2	Reagan	Rep	Dem	President Ronald Reagan pledged that he would veto any spending bill that failed to include at least half of the $8.4 billion in domestic budget cuts that he proposed. Although the Republican controlled Senate passed a bill that met his specifications, the Democratically controlled House insisted on larger cuts to defense than Reagan wanted as well as pay raises for congress and senior civil servants. A compromise bill fell $2 billion short of the cuts Reagan wanted, so Reagan vetoed the bill and shut down the federal government. A temporary bill restored spending through 15 December and gave Congress the time to work out a more lasting deal.
1982	Sep 30	Oct 2	1	Reagan	Rep	Dem	Congress passed the required spending bills a day late.
1982	Dec 17	Dec 21	3	Reagan	Rep	Dem	The House and Senate wished to fund job programs, but President Reagan vowed to veto any such legislation. The House also opposed plans to fund the MX missile. The shutdown ended after Congress abandoned their jobs plan, but Reagan was forced to yield on funding for both the MX and Pershing II missiles. He also accepted funding for the Legal Services Corporation, which he wanted abolished, in exchange for higher foreign aid to Israel.
1983	Nov 10	Nov 14	3	Reagan	Rep	Dem	The House increased education funding but cut defense and foreign aid spending, which led to a dispute with President Reagan. Eventually, the House reduced their proposed education funding, and also accepted funding for the MX missile. However, the foreign aid and defense cuts remained, and oil and gas leasing was banned in federal wildlife refuges. Abortion was also prohibited from being paid for with government employee health insurance.
1984	Sep 30	Oct 3	2	Reagan	Rep	Dem	The House wished to link the budget to both a crime-fighting package President Reagan supported and a water projects package he did not. The Senate additionally tied the budget to a civil rights measure designed to overturn Grove City v. Bell. Reagan proposed a compromise where he abandoned his crime package in exchange for Congress dropping the water projects package. A deal was not struck, and a three-day spending extension was passed instead.
1984	Oct 3	Oct 5	1	Reagan	Rep	Dem	The 3 October spending extension expired, forcing a shutdown. Congress dropped their proposed water and civil rights packages, while President Reagan kept his crime package. Funding for aid to the Nicaraguan Contras was also passed.
1986	Oct 16	Oct 18	1	Reagan	Rep	Dem	Disputes over multiple issues between the House and President Reagan and the Republican Senate forced a shutdown. The House dropped many of their demands in exchange for a vote on their welfare package, and a concession of the sale of then-government-owned Conrail.
1987	Dec 18	Dec 20	1	Reagan	Dem	Dem	The House and Senate opposed funding for the Contras and wanted the Federal Communications Commission to renew enforcement of the "Fairness Doctrine". They yielded on the "Fairness Doctrine" issue in exchange for non-lethal aid to the Contras.
1990	Oct 5	Oct 9	4	G.H.W. Bush	Dem	Dem	President George H.W. Bush vowed to veto any continuing resolution that was not paired with a deficit reduction package, and did so when one reached his desk. The House failed to override his veto before a shutdown occurred. Congress then passed a continuing resolution with a deficit reduction package to end the shutdown.
1995	Nov 13	Nov 19	5	Clinton	Rep	Rep	President Bill Clinton vetoed a continuing resolution passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. A deal was reached allowing for 75-percent funding for four weeks, and Clinton agreed to a seven-year timetable for a balanced budget.
1995-1996	Dec 15	Jan 6	21	Clinton	Rep	Rep	The Republicans demanded that President Clinton propose a budget with the seven-year timetable using Congressional Budget Office numbers, rather than Clinton's Office of Management and Budget numbers. However, Clinton refused. Eventually, Congress and Clinton agreed to pass a compromise budget.
2013	Sep 30	Ongoing	3 days	Obama	Dem	Rep	Due to disagreement regarding inclusion of language defunding or delaying the Affordable Care Act, the Government has not passed a funding bill. Negotiations have come to a stop and the shutdown is in progress.

► PC WORLD 2 October 2013 : Senator vows fierce defense of NSA data collection, surveillance programs

► SPACE 2 October 2013 : Clouds On Alien Planet Mapped for 1st Time (Image)

► E ONLINE 2 October 2013 : N Sync's Controversial Tweet Angers Fans During Government Shutdown

► WSJ 2 October 2013  : U.S. Poised to Overtake Russia in Fuel Production

► GUARDIAN 2October 2013

■ US shutdown drags into second day as Republicans eye fresh debt ceiling crisis
■ Qatar under growing pressure over workers' deaths as Fifa is urged to act 
■ Tory government will deny housing benefit to under-25s, Cameron pledges

► NY TIMES 2 October 2013 : Italian Premier Appeals to Lawmakers to Retain His Government

► WISE BREAD:  10 Hard Truths About Getting Hired That You Don't Want to Believe

► FOXNEWS 2 October 2013 : Intel chief suggests US spies might defect over budget impasse

► WIRED 2 October 2013 : Spraying Bugs on Mars (1964)

► SLATE 2 October 2013 : The GOP's Tantrum Is Bad for America's Credibility

► MICHELLE MALKIN 2 October 2013 : Good news: Supreme Court agrees to hear Harris v. Quinn (families battling SEIU over thuggish home invasion scheme)

► FILM &ANIMATIONS : Wonder Woman // a short by Rainfall Films. Published on Sep 30, 2013 by RainfallFilms

► T e m p o



► 3-Way Street

► Democrats say Obama rejected Republican arguments on government shutdown in meeting

► Republican Speaker Boehner says Obama refused to negotiate in White House meeting

► Obama, GOP won't budge, shutdown now into third day
By Jeff Mason and Thomas Ferraro - WASHINGTON - There seemed to be no sign of a breakthrough after talks between President Barack Obama and Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress failed to break the deadlock that has shut down wide swaths of the federal government for two days.

* Republican Speaker Boehner says Obama refused to negotiate
* Democrats say Obama rejected GOP arguments on shutdown
* Measuring the impacts of the U.S. government closures
* Video: Government freeze felt across the United States
* Slideshow: Scenes from the shutdown

► Analysis: Tenet stands out by experimenting with core model of Obamacare

► U.S. deadlock drags on dollar, stocks put up a fight

► Experimenting with core model of Obamacare

By Susan Kelly - Tenet Healthcare Corp, the Dallas, Texas-based company stands out among its peers for experimenting with a core concept of the legislation - the lofty goals of coordinating treatment in a single, integrated system that reins in costs by improving care.

* Covered and looking for deals, insured Americans shop Obamacare

► U.S. talks with Iran must be based on concrete steps by Tehran: Kerry

► Putin, Obama may discuss Syria next week in Bali: Kremlin 
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama may discuss the Syria crisis on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific summit next week in Bali, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday.

► VIDEOS

■ Russian embassy in Libya attacked
■ Obama, congressional leaders still deadlocked on shutdown
■ Reuters Today: Obama invokes market fear, meets Wall St CEOs
■ Members of Congress point blame for government shutdown

► The electronic cigarette  || ► E-cigarette inventor fights for financial rewards



► Israel military drill simulates chemical attack

► Federal employees protest government shutdown ||► Free lunch for federal workers affected by govt shutdown || ► Republican leader complains Obama won't negotiate

► Furloughed Workers: 'Send Us Back to Work' ||  ► Clapper: Shutdown Damages Intelligence Mission  ||  ► Economic Fallout Worries Over Gov't Shutdown ||  ► House GOP: Senate Must Negotiate to End Shutdown  || ► GOP: Dems Won't Talk, Reid: Boehner Won't Listen ||  ► WH Meeting Yields No Progress on Shutdown

► Raw: Northern Lights Put on Show Over Minnesota

► NEWS

■ World powers on 'right track' on Syria chemical arms: Putin
■ Belarus leader says Obama surprises him, 'blacks were slaves'
■ AP PHOTOS: Gaza tunnels idle amid Egypt crackdown
■ Republicans reject call for vote on reopening government as Obama meets lawmakers
■ Obama, lawmakers to meet on shutdown's 2nd day
■ Turkish government seeks renewed mandate to send troops to Syria
■ Photos of the day - October 2, 2013
■ Israel 'angry' with new Iran-West logic: Rouhani
■ Russian Embassy in Libya comes under fire, attack repelled
■ Lawmakers feeling heat from government shutdown
■ Obama engages Iran as Congress is poised to pass tough new economic sanctions
■ Parliament showdown looms for Italy prime minister
■ Russia charges 14 Greenpeace activists with piracy; more charges expected
■ New Ways to Avoid Getting a Real Job
■ Giant mushrooms pop up in family's yard
■ Government shutdown hurting U.S. army: general

► FINANCE

■ Disney Offers Full-Time to Park Staff as Obamacare Starts
■ Obama to Wall Street: This time be worried

► HEALTH : Mercury in Seafood: Is It Still Safe to Eat Fish?

► FEATURE

■ Cultivating kindness - Can we teach compassion? 
■ A taste of honey - Why mead is making a comeback in the US 

► HEALTH

■ Exercise 'can be as good as pills'
■ Belgian transsexual helped to die

► MAGAZINE : Bye-bye, birthplace - Twenty readers who switched nationalities 

► Today's African Proverb : "The truth can never catch up with a propagated lie" - A Somali proverb sent by Hussein Mohamed, Nashville, US

► Gunmen attack Russian embassy in Libya's Tripoli 



► US Army and Intel: Shutdown already damaging national security 
► Snowden's email service Lavabit consistently denied US govt access despite intimidation
► 'Let's stop this government-by-extortion' - Green Party's Stein on US shutdown

► OP-ED

■ 'US economy is just one giant hedge fund' - by Max Keiser
■ Netanyahu's UN speech: Sounds like a sociopath? - by Pepe Escober

Mmm, ... in exactly is paranoid! Well, maybe this is understandable, considering the background of Israel as an ill nation, because of the Holocaust and a nation with a dark history because it always felt driven from land to land. Ahmadinejad ever threatened to wipe Israel off the map, and this reminds Israel injuries in the past. Sometimes I can understand their hidden fears, as long as Israel does not do crazy by killing the Palestinians, for example. I hate to see the pitiable but cruelty.

► 'Putin's Syria role deserving of Nobel Peace Prize'

Mmm, I do not agree completely. My question is, "Does Putin do this -- what is called as a peacemaker -- because of Russia interests in Syria or purely because of the peace itself? Why did Putin remain silent --- in the sense : Russia did not use its veto against the UN Security Council resolution which authorizing the military intervention to protect Libyan civilians --- when NATO attacking Libya in 2011? Even until they killed Gaddafi. Why?

► Putin seeks to double labor productivity to end 'oil needle' reliance

► VIDEOS

■ Schizo Shutdown: Does govt halt show loss of touch with reality at Capitol Hill
■ CrossTalk: Exceptional America?
■ Eco-Pirates? Greenpeace activists charged with piracy over oil rig protest
■ Inches from Death: UK cyclist narrowly escapes collision with train
■ Golden Dawn...or Dusk? Greek far-right party faces criminal charges
■ Gunmen attack, break-in attempt at Russian embassy in Libya's Tripoli  ||  ■ Exclusive video: Russian embassy attacked in Libya (Immediate aftermath)

■ 'Congress acts completely in betrayal of US people'

■ Cash Tweet: Israeli students paid to defend country online. Cash strapped Israeli students have a new way to relieve their financial plight. They can get easy money by simply posting positive tweets and clicking the 'like' button in the right places. That's after authorities came up with the idea of offering youngsters salaries and even scholarships for protection of the government's interests and fighting anti-semitism on the web. But ironically, the father of the digital diplomacy program has come under fire for posting racist comments - the very thing he was meant to be preventing. RT's Paula Slier reports.



■ #BlackOctober '93: Reliving Moscow attempted coup with RT's Live Timeline

► The War In October - The Heat of Battle. The 40th anniversary of what Egyptians call the October War and the Israelis know as the Yom Kippur War.

► Can the US get its house in order?|| ► US government shutdown affects employees and tourists

► Series five, episode one

► WITNESS : Village at the End of the World. How an Inuit community on the north coast of Greenland is pulling together to save their village and way of life.



► Myanmar: Can the religious violence be ended? We ask if the government can protect its Muslim population from persecution.

► No Progress. Congressional leaders admitted they're no closer to ending the shutdown after emerging from a Wednesday meeting at the White House.

* House Moves Towards Supporting Backpay for Federal Employees
* Dick Armey to GOP: Surrender!
* What's a Furlough?: TIME Explains Government Shutdown Buzzwords
* Beating the Shutdown Blues with Beer, Naps and Porn

Well, this is a big state budget problem. Despite your credibility will be questioned but the smaller countries could only shake their heads respond to the style of your problem, America! At least, this is not for Congo, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Liberia or Eritria, maybe? Ehehhe, once again I'm thinking. You're snobby, America! Huh? (And dahling, you are so smelly, ehehehe...)

► VIDEOS

■ War Veterans Talk to TIME about the Shutdown
■ Government Shutdown: A Look Back at the Blame-Game

► TELEVISION : What It's Like Being in the Girls Porn - An XXX star on playing Lena Dunham's character

► COMPUTERS : Which Laptop Should You Buy? - Ranking the top 3 notebooks in 5 key categories ::

► RUSSIA : Russia Takes on Greenpeace in the Arctic - Activists' ship ran into Russia's show of military force

► HEART DISEASE : Cholesterol-Lowering Drug Shows Promise - An experimental compound cuts levels dramatically

► REAL ESTATE : High-rise apartments planned for downtown - Mack Urban hopes to transform parcels east of Staples Center into a walkable community aimed at a wide swath of rental budgets.

► BUSINESS : Government shutdown may cut into so-so holiday sales, trade group says

* Holiday sales are projected to rise 3.9%
* Wells Fargo is accused of bogging down mortgage modifications

► OPINION

■ "President Obama's position that he won't negotiate on the debt ceiling is also outrageous."
■ Jimmy Kimmel's Obamacare stunt: How infallible is public opinion?
■ A greedy, hypocritical GOP

► FASHION : Paris Fashion Week spring/summer 2014: Hermes review

► FRAMEWORK : Pictures in the News | October 2, 2013 - Posted By: Marc Martin



Dancers from India perform during the opening ceremony of the Balkan Peace Festival in Skopje, Macedonia, which is organized on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and the International Day Against Violence. PHOTOGRAPH BY: ROBERT ATANASOVSKI / AFP/Getty Images