World Politics

[rhubroma]

I'm well aware of the iter of global capitalism. Relocation of industry was long taking place before the Euro, as were the dismantling of trade barriers in the name of liberalism.

So what, it took place before (long? 10 years before) the euro. Globalization started with the Uruguay Round and the GATT agreement in the early nineties, completed by the Maastricht Treaty, which also officialized the common currency.

Article 63

(ex Article 56 TEC)

1. Within the framework of the provisions set out in this Chapter, all restrictions on the movement of capital between Member States and between Member States and third countries shall be prohibited.

2. Within the framework of the provisions set out in this Chapter, all restrictions on payments between Member States and between Member States and third countries shall be prohibited.

So yes it has to do with the EU. But more importantly the euro having been a strong currency, very expansive compared to the dollar, for many years (and still is too expansive today) prevents our industry to export (except a few German factories who have a close to monopoly situation in several sectors) because our industry is no longer competitive on the Asian market or so. Hence the industry relocates. Strong euro was a relocation premium, that's not Echoes speaking it's Louis Gallois, manager of Airbus.

This is precisely the well from which FN draws its water, as does Beppe Grillo and the Lega Nord in Italy, Farnge in Britain - so you're in good company - while at the fringe looms the various Podemos and then there are the pirates. The system is based on consensus, however, which only knows how to plan for the next elections. But in a tripartite system FN's consensus has grown by 6%, which is not unsubstantial. Come on, Marine's platform has always been staunchly anti-EU.

What a salad! The usual left-wing trick. You are anti-EU, so you are pro-FN while neither the FN, nor the Lega Nord (far from that), nor Beppe Grillo, nor Podemos, nor the Pirates have EVER EVER EVER EVER and EVER planned to EXIT the EU. NEVER !! Only Farage wants out but still to stay in NATO, so now even with him, I am in bad company. Besides, he wants a veil ban towards Muslim women, he should please you. I've read all of the FN's "statements of principles" at every elections since Marine became its president. This does not exist. So no, her platform has never been anti-EU. Even on the euro, she's wishy-washy. On her "statement of principles" for the 2012 presidential elections, the word "euro" did not even get a mention. It's logical. The only legal way out of the Eurozone is getting out of the whole EU by art.50 of the TFEU but since Marine never planned to leave the EU, how can she plan a Eurozone exit? It's impossible. That means she's deceiving her voters. That means she's closer to you, the Europeist than to me. The dilemma is binary. You stay or you get out (of the EU). I want to get out. All parties from far-right to far-left want to stay, just like you.

Oh and no, the FN has not grown. Statisticians have long noticed that the FN was unable to exceed a threshold of 14% of subscribers. They still did not manage that. They are slightly above 13%. They only won because of the 52% abstention (+ blank or null votes)[which is a very good thing, I also abstain most of the time]. But in absolute figures, they have not won any more voters.

Your concept of "working class authoritarianism" only has validity to (losing) monarchists like yourself, which is eminently hypocritical.

Lol Seymour Martin Lipset, a monarchist? He was a socialist reformed to "centrist".

Christopher Lasch in "The Revolt of the Elites" argued:

The masses today have lost interest in revolution. Indeed, their political instincts are demonstrably more conservative than those of their self-appointed spokesmen and would-be liberators. It is the working and lower middle classes, after all, who favor limits on abortion, cling to the two-parent family as a source of stability in a turbulent world, resist experiments with ‘alternative lifestyles,’ and harbor deep reservations about affirmative action and other ventures in large-scale social engineering.

Deal with it. And don't claim Lasch was a monarchist because Blutto should then claim you are making him "roll in his grave." But he won't say that, don't worry. Because you are a cool leftist.

Yours is authoritarianism tout court and consequently fascist.

Yes, authoritarianism is a synonym for fascism as anyone knows.

And this is where your siding with the working class, as you view it, is a perversion of its very struggle for emancipation. No, Ehcoes, you don't side with the working class, but a return of Manzoni's Innominato and clerical reign over the serfs.

Yes, serfdom was abolished by the Enlightenment and by the 1789 revolution as anyone knows. The working class was a lot better protected by the Old Regime than by their successors. History should tell. The worst century for the working class in the 19th one. Every historian knows that.

....find below a post from the US Politics thread....and do remember Trump is real popular among the, uhhh, general populace...

Trump is not popular among the general populace because the general populace no longer votes in the US. How great was the abstention rate at the last elections? Over 60% I think. But compared to Democrats, the Republicans are much closer to what the working class expects from a US President. You only need to read the election maps at every elections to understand. Democrats gets the Rich coastal states (Atlantic or Pacific), Republicans get the hard-working heartland.

Well globilzastion started long before that Echoes. The Euro cost has to do with US wanting to keep the dollar cheap. The dissatisfaction with the voting public is symetrical to their innabilty to effect change. It's the syndrome of the struggling worker occupying the place with the fascists like you who believe they can articulate a lost purity that never was pure, as I have already said.

Like Trump, you are a dangerous imbecile and not worth more attention.

Having said that I never brought up Lasch, but if you insist he is a reactionary and destined, like all reactionaries, to sucumb to the hands by which plastic history is modeled by humans. If not, the apocalypse. I gather you welcome just such a prospect. If such hands bring that about then your paranoia had some sinister sense.

I don't really care one way or the other.

 

[blutto]

....a couple of very worth-while articles that examine the idea of the Syrian fiasco as just a Pipelineistan war ....

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43648.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43653.htm

Cheers

 

[blutto]

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

 

[python]

Re:

....a couple of very worth-while articles that examine the idea of the Syrian fiasco as just a Pipelineistan war
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43648.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43653.htm

Cheers

....both articles are interesting, particularly the 2nd, and both shed some light on the current mess ... i am not sure i was with the authors on the us role (a separate issue), but the turkish adventures fit very well with the facts presented....

as a matter of fact, the 'pipelineistan logic' has never been far from my way of looking at geopolitics. i used to closely follow the ukis gas wars . it was then i learned that the long-term nature and the very high cost of pipelines typically transformed the transit and source countries into strategic partners. sort of, the collective investment protection. hence, the wild per-construction maneuvering. but the europen pipeline games are a child's play compared to the middle east.

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

....yeah I realize that Arabs all look the same to youse guys but that is an issue with your good friend and ally Saudi Arabia and not Iran....one is a repressive fundamentalist Sunni sponsor of al Qaeda and ISIS...and other is Shia and is nominally democratic....

....and speakin' of driving restrictions, don't fundamentalist Jewish sects not allow female members to drive either ? ....

Cheers

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

Oh my--- guess the news about how radical islamist want to live under Sharia law is just fiction.

But wait a minute Bluto - I know you are aware that Persians are very different than da Muzlims we often have to deal with who have been radicalized,,,,,,

Your article links with respect to the Syria and pipelines is very interesting.

By the way ALL things are not linked to the evil USA trying to build pipelines. I'm going to sit, watch and wait for that pipeline in Afghanistan to get built.

 

[ScienceIsCool]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

Why don't you ask Laleh Seddigh? The world isn't as backward a place as your government keeps telling you.

John Swanson

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

Oh my--- guess the news about how radical islamist want to live under Sharia law is just fiction.

But wait a minute Bluto - I know you are aware that Persians are very different than da Muzlims we often have to deal with who have been radicalized,,,,,,

Your article links with respect to the Syria and pipelines is very interesting.

By the way ALL things are not linked to the evil USA trying to build pipelines. I'm going to sit, watch and wait for that pipeline in Afghanistan to get built.

....ok, good point....so not ALL....but ya gotta admit they are always somewhere in the mix....

...as for that Afghani pipe, was just talking to some of our guys that just got back, and their opinion, not in our lifetime ( that transit path is permanently fookayed and will never ever be secure enough )...

Cheers

...edit....as long as I gots your attention...when you wus in gawd's country a.k.a. NFLD did you ever try any of the Purity brand cookies ?....I ask because I'm currently enjoying some Jam-Jams w/tea....mmmmm good...

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

Why don't you ask Laleh Seddigh? The world isn't as backward a place as your government keeps telling you.

John Swanson

Lets just ask Jason Rezaian and his wife Salehi.

Back in June of 2014 Anthony Bourdain and his show "Parts Unknown" were in Iran. He had good things to say about Iran - what he expected and what he actually saw. During that episode there is a part where he has dinner with Jason and Salehi. They say how they like it there and life is different than what most in the USA would expect.

I guess one day Jason will be able to get out of prison and report again.

 

[ScienceIsCool]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

Why don't you ask Laleh Seddigh? The world isn't as backward a place as your government keeps telling you.

John Swanson

Lets just ask Jason Rezaian and his wife Salehi.

Back in June of 2014 Anthony Bourdain and his show "Parts Unknown" were in Iran. He had good things to say about Iran - what he expected and what he actually saw. During that episode there is a part where he has dinner with Jason and Salehi. They say how they like it there and life is different than what most in the USA would expect.

I guess one day Jason will be able to get out of prison and report again.

I guess that'd be like asking Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González what it's like living in America...

John Swanson

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

I guess that'd be like asking Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González what it's like living in America...

John Swanson

Typical response and predictable. I believe that the Cuban government finally admitted that they were agents of Cuba correct? They contend that they were investigating terrorist bombings in Havana - linked to the Cuban folks in Miami.

I don't think the two things are the same but I'm sure we don't hold the same opinion.

By the way that lady driver you hold up as a beacon of Irans progressions. Well She did have to actually ask for permission to drive. And is the only Persian woman who has been allowed / given permission to race outside Iran.

 

[ScienceIsCool]

Re: Re:

I guess that'd be like asking Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González what it's like living in America...

John Swanson

Typical response and predictable. I believe that the Cuban government finally admitted that they were agents of Cuba correct? They contend that they were investigating terrorist bombings in Havana - linked to the Cuban folks in Miami.

I don't think the two things are the same but I'm sure we don't hold the same opinion.

By the way that lady driver you hold up as a beacon of Irans progressions. Well She did have to actually ask for permission to drive. And is the only Persian woman who has been allowed / given permission to race outside Iran.

She asked for permission to race with the men, not drive. And you are mostly correct about the Cuban 5. They were trying to infiltrate groups that were causing terrorist bombings in Havana - one of which killed a German tourist. They weren't spying on the US.

Jason Rezaian? Not sure if he is/was a spy or is just a political prisoner. The point is the US and Iran both hold a number of political prisoners and have some serious flaws in their justice system. Doesn't make either place a backwards hell hole or its inhabitants religious nutbars.

John Swanson

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

I guess that'd be like asking Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González what it's like living in America...

John Swanson

Typical response and predictable. I believe that the Cuban government finally admitted that they were agents of Cuba correct? They contend that they were investigating terrorist bombings in Havana - linked to the Cuban folks in Miami.

I don't think the two things are the same but I'm sure we don't hold the same opinion.

By the way that lady driver you hold up as a beacon of Irans progressions. Well She did have to actually ask for permission to drive. And is the only Persian woman who has been allowed / given permission to race outside Iran.

She asked for permission to race with the men, not drive. And you are mostly correct about the Cuban 5. They were trying to infiltrate groups that were causing terrorist bombings in Havana - one of which killed a German tourist. They weren't spying on the US.

Jason Rezaian? Not sure if he is/was a spy or is just a political prisoner. The point is the US and Iran both hold a number of political prisoners and have some serious flaws in their justice system. Doesn't make either place a backwards hell hole or its inhabitants religious nutbars.

John Swanson

I would not call Iran backwards. Far from it. Anyone who even remotely knows history should understand that the Persians are an advanced society and do not live like say their neighbors in Iraq or Saudi.

But I was not surprised by the response you had with respect to bustedknuckles post. Not sure he would be considered to hold the opinion that Iran is backwards. But his post was a bit misinformed. Maybe he was just having a laugh?

Most folks in Merikah do not understand those differences that Iran has compared to say Saudi. Iranian women can drive no problem but I think (not sure) they have to wear the hijab. They will not be killed for not wearing it and driving but they run the risk of having the car impounded.

Iranian women can play sports and are allowed to travel internationally also. But if their husband refuses to allow them or sign permission to get a passport then they can't go.

Much better on human rights issues than Saudi but still some rather strange laws compared to say the west.

 

[python]

as may have been noticeable, my latest political focus is learning/understanding WHY turkey's actions in syria and iraq have become increasingly adventurous.

in that regard, i did some reading, using both pro- and anti-erdogan articles. the 2 independent, expertise-filled sources that stood out are:
http://www.middleeasteye.net (mentioned several times before)
and
http://www.al-monitor.com (just found)

the latter is particularly objective and informative. instead of linking to the specific authors i liked (there are too many), If interested, go ahead and surf for yourself...i believe i understand the situation much better now.

 

[blutto]

Re:

as may have been noticeable, my latest political focus is learning/understanding WHY turkey's actions in syria and iraq have become increasingly adventurous.

in that regard, i did some reading, using both pro- and anti-erdogan articles. the 2 independent, expertise-filled sources that stood out are:
http://www.middleeasteye.net (mentioned several times before)
and
http://www.al-monitor.com (just found)

the latter is particularly objective and informative. instead of linking to the specific authors i liked (there are too many), If interested, go ahead and surf for yourself...i believe i understand the situation much better now.

....nice fleshing out of the background....thanks...

....thought the following interesting given the present situation...

"Iran, the second-largest natural gas provider to Turkey, announced that it halved its exports to right after the Mosul-Bashiqa affair. It could not be coincidental."

....which will very directly affect a very energy intensive industry that is huge in Turkey ( and expanding dramatically )....

" Turkey lost out on being the fourth-largest cement producer in 2014 and now shares that position with Iran, which, according to the USGS, also produced 75Mt of cement in 2014. Turkey and Iran follow China (2.5Bnt), India (280Mt) and the US (83.3Mt). Brazil, which produced 72Mt of cement in 2014, is closing in on Turkey's production."

....and you have to understand how huge and important cement is....it has been around forever and is literally the stuff civilization is built on.... remove cement from the picture and civilization as we know it would not exist....it is so big powerful and important it got an industry wide exemption from the Kyoto agreement ( apparently 4 companies have virtual control of the global market...and they meet every Monday morning for coffee if you know what I'm sayin'... ) )...its one of those tails one has to follow to figure out where things are, and where they are going....bottom line, Turkey is big into cement and that requires a lot of fossil fuel and with both Iran and Russia cutting back on the gas supply things are going to get interesting, very interesting...

Cheers

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re:

as may have been noticeable, my latest political focus is learning/understanding WHY turkey's actions in syria and iraq have become increasingly adventurous.

in that regard, i did some reading, using both pro- and anti-erdogan articles. the 2 independent, expertise-filled sources that stood out are:
http://www.middleeasteye.net (mentioned several times before)
and
http://www.al-monitor.com (just found)

the latter is particularly objective and informative. instead of linking to the specific authors i liked (there are too many), If interested, go ahead and surf for yourself...i believe i understand the situation much better now.

Yeah some interesting information out there.

Some weekend reading ahead of me.

 

[python]

Re: Re:

as may have been noticeable, my latest political focus is learning/understanding WHY turkey's actions in syria and iraq have become increasingly adventurous.

in that regard, i did some reading, using both pro- and anti-erdogan articles. the 2 independent, expertise-filled sources that stood out are:
http://www.middleeasteye.net (mentioned several times before)
and
http://www.al-monitor.com (just found)

the latter is particularly objective and informative. instead of linking to the specific authors i liked (there are too many), If interested, go ahead and surf for yourself...i believe i understand the situation much better now.

and with both Iran and Russia cutting back on the gas supply things are going to get interesting, very interesting...

Cheers

i understand your point and not doubting that iran had cut its supply by 1/2, but i have not seen any reports that russia did cut at all. if they did, it would be a small amount written into their contract daily (monthly) minimum supply. otherwise stiff fines are typically written into bilateral contracts. it's quite realistic that russia did use this legal mechanism 'to send a message' and did reduce some supply, but i doubt it went beyond a 10-15% decrease

why i think so ? besides undercutting its own desperately needed cash flow when oil and gas prices have collapsed, the complete cutting of natural gas to turkey by russia is equivalent to using a nuclear option. b/c currently turkey gets about 60% of its total natural gas from vlad. it would bring turkey's economy to a virtual halt within days. russia would rationally be expected to use the option ONLY IF the declaration of war was to precede the cut off followed by severing the diplomatic relations...

things obviously haven't gone that far yet and i doubt they will. vlad is not going to hurt himself foolishly. he is seeking a revenge for the bloody nose as a minimum and a containment of turkey's ambitions in syria as a maximum. he may be planning to oppose the turks in iraq too, but it's far from clear how...

 

[blackcat]

Re: Re:

....a couple of very worth-while articles that examine the idea of the Syrian fiasco as just a Pipelineistan war
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43648.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43653.htm

Cheers

....both articles are interesting, particularly the 2nd, and both shed some light on the current mess ... i am not sure i was with the authors on the us role (a separate issue), but the turkish adventures fit very well with the facts presented....

as a matter of fact, the 'pipelineistan logic' has never been far from my way of looking at geopolitics. i used to closely follow the ukis gas wars . it was then i learned that the long-term nature and the very high cost of pipelines typically transformed the transit and source countries into strategic partners. sort of, the collective investment protection. hence, the wild per-construction maneuvering. but the europen pipeline games are a child's play compared to the middle east.

Pyth did you read the Pepe Escobar book?

 

[blackcat]

Re: Re:

"In what country are 70% of science and engineering students women?

Hint: It's not the USA.

Damn those Muslims. They're terrorizing men, who should have a permanent guarantee to this type of work...

⬅︎ ⬅︎ ⬅︎ for the sarcastically challenged...


Set To Take Over Tech: 70% Of Iran's Science And Engineering Students Are Women - Forbes "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyguttman/2015/12/09/set-to-take-over-tech-70-of-irans-science-and-engineering-students-are-women/

Cheers

But can they drive themselves to class?

Why don't you ask Laleh Seddigh? The world isn't as backward a place as your government keeps telling you.

John Swanson

and they have a Fields Medalist.

I think she is at Berkley now.

but she could be at Princeton.

And if not Princeton, she will be at MIT. or mebbe harvard

 

[python]

Re: Re:

Pyth did you read the Pepe Escobar book?

i did not. pepe escobar is an engaging and intelligent author but a tad too flamboyant (style-wise) and 'invested' imo. his sources are always good. it's his conclusions i sometimes find too predictable.

 

[Semper Fidelis]

Re: Re:

....a couple of very worth-while articles that examine the idea of the Syrian fiasco as just a Pipelineistan war
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43648.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43653.htm

Cheers

....both articles are interesting, particularly the 2nd, and both shed some light on the current mess ... i am not sure i was with the authors on the us role (a separate issue), but the turkish adventures fit very well with the facts presented....

as a matter of fact, the 'pipelineistan logic' has never been far from my way of looking at geopolitics. i used to closely follow the ukis gas wars . it was then i learned that the long-term nature and the very high cost of pipelines typically transformed the transit and source countries into strategic partners. sort of, the collective investment protection. hence, the wild per-construction maneuvering. but the europen pipeline games are a child's play compared to the middle east.

Pyth did you read the Pepe Escobar book?

Yeah some in the intelligence community think Pepe is the reason Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated because Pepe was a Taliban spy against the Northern alliance.

 

[Echoes]

How can anyone have regret for the death of Massood?

 

[Semper Fidelis]

How can anyone have regret for the death of Massood?

Who talking about regret? Hint ---see the mirror.

 

[blutto]

Re: Re:

....a couple of very worth-while articles that examine the idea of the Syrian fiasco as just a Pipelineistan war
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43648.htm

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article43653.htm

Cheers

....both articles are interesting, particularly the 2nd, and both shed some light on the current mess ... i am not sure i was with the authors on the us role (a separate issue), but the turkish adventures fit very well with the facts presented....

as a matter of fact, the 'pipelineistan logic' has never been far from my way of looking at geopolitics. i used to closely follow the ukis gas wars . it was then i learned that the long-term nature and the very high cost of pipelines typically transformed the transit and source countries into strategic partners. sort of, the collective investment protection. hence, the wild per-construction maneuvering. but the europen pipeline games are a child's play compared to the middle east.

Pyth did you read the Pepe Escobar book?

Yeah some in the intelligence community think Pepe is the reason Ahmad Shah Massoud was assassinated because Pepe was a Taliban spy against the Northern alliance.

....a little something about the situation just prior to the US invasion of Afghanistan....mentions Massoud....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" The first phase of the US `war on terrorism will likely be the attempted overthrow of the Taliban regime, which currently rules 90% of Afghanistan. Washington is massing powerful strike forces around Afghanistan and has unleashed a fierce propaganda offensive against Taliban.

The Bush Administration says it will embark on `nation-building in Afghanistan. Translation: imposing a pro-US regime in Kabul that will battle Islamic militants and open the way for American oil and gas pipelines running south from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea. Washington clearly hopes to make the Northern Alliance, a motley collection of anti-Taliban insurgents, the new ruler of Afghanistan...."

....and....

" Not a record to boast about. But undaunted by failure, the US has found its latest client, the Northern Alliance, and is moving with new-found ally, Russia, to quickly to implant them in Kabul. This is a historical irony of epic proportions: in the 1980s the US spent billions to oust the Russians from Afghanistan; now it is inviting them back in.

I write about the Tajik-dominated Alliance with unease. Its leader, Prof. Burhanuddin Rabbani, is an old, respected friend of mine from the earliest days of the great Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union. A classical Persian scholar and poet, Rabbani is held in great esteem by his fellow Tajiks, Afghanistans best educated, most sophisticated ethnic group.

Rabbanis military commander, Ahmad Shah Massoud, was killed by Arab suicide bombers two days before the mass attacks against the US. Massoud was adored by the western-media, and was being groomed by his foreign backers as the next leader of Afghanistan. Few outsiders knew that the dashing Massoud was regarded as a traitor by many Afghans for allying himself with the Soviets during the war and turning against his fellow mujihadin.

In recent years, Northern Alliance has been armed and financed by a very odd assortment of bedfellows: Russia, Iran, the US, India, and France. The Alliance controls a toehold in northeast Afghanistan next to Tajikistan, a Russian satellite state where Moscow has 25,000 troops.

The mainly Tajik Alliance has recently been lately joined by the Uzbek warriors of Gen. Rashid Dostam, a brutal communist warlord who collaborated for a decade with the Soviets and was responsible for mass killings and atrocities. America should have no dealings with such criminals. Without Russian helicopters, armor, and `advisors, the Alliance would have long ago collapsed.

In all my years as a foreign affairs writer, I have never seen a case where so many Washington `experts have all the answers to a country that only a handful of Americans know anything about. President George Bush, who before election could not name the president of Pakistan, now intends to redraw the political map of strategic Afghanistan, an act that will cause shock waves across South and Central Asia.

Anyone who knows anything about Afghans knows 1. they will never accept any regime imposed by outsiders; 2. an ethnic minority government can never rule Afghanistans ethnic majority, the Pashtun (or Pathan), roughly half the population. Taliban are mostly Pushtun. Tajiks account for 18-20% and Uzbeks for 6% of Afghans.

Washingtons plan for `nation-building in Afghanistan is a recipe for disaster that will produce an enlarged civil war that draws in outside powers.

Let Afghans decide their own traditional way, through a national tribal council, called a loya jirga, to create a new, post-Taliban government whose strings are not pulled from abroad. As for King Zahir Shah, he is discredited as a `foreigner in Afghanistan and too old to even be a figurehead. Prof Rabbani would make a good president, provided he was seen first an Afghan, and only secondly a Tajik.

Pakistan, which until lately backed Taliban, has only one interest: a stable, unchaotic Afghanistan. Islamabad will likely agree to a regime in neighboring Afghanistan that keeps order and is not the creature of its Russian, Iranian, or Indian enemies.

Washingtons `experts, would-be crusaders, and re-born Cold Warriors should look twice before they leap."

....from... http://www.themodernreligion.com/terror/wtc-eric-spare.html

....and this from Pepe...

"Note: Pepe Escobar's interview with Ahmad Shah Masoud was held not long before an assassination attempt was made on the leader of the Afghani forces fighting the Taliban. Masoud was being interviewed on Sunday by two Arab journalists in northern Takhar province near his home when a bomb concealed in a video camera exploded. The Arabs were killed, and reports vary on the extent of injuries suffered by Masoud. "

....from.... http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/CI12Df01.html

Cheers