What A Week

"Analysis"

08/30/2008

Paul Munnis


It’s been quite a week. Democrats had their convention in Denver and several firsts were the result. Among them: the first Black Presidential candidate in history was nominated, the first black woman candidate for First Lady was introduced, and the largest crowd (84,000) for an acceptance speech by a candidate was present at Invesco Stadium in Denver.

The first woman candidate for president in history released her candidates to vote for Barack Obama. Barack Obama then laid down his gauntlet to Democrats and provided specificity concerning his programs and plans for governing America.

Many Party stalwarts preceded his acceptance speech and gave rousing endorsements from several viewpoints ranging from Agriculture to Foreign Policy and addressed almost all aspect s of government. A key speaker of course was Joe Biden the foreign policy heavy weightlifter for America. Joe has a lot of experience in foreign policy -- an area where America has been a lightweight under Bush.

Not to be outdone, John McCain named his Vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin, who will share the GOP ticket with him. She is the Governor of Alaska, mother of five, wife of an oil rig worker and of course a female at a time when Democrats have has the female part of presidential politics mostly to themselves.

While all of this was in progress Russia invaded Georgia, and Bush was taunted over it with Russia claiming it was an Administration put-up-job and that Bush arranged it to make the Democrats look foolish and soft on militarism, etc. The White House denied that of course. Russia has withdrawn from Georgia. The U.S. looked impotent and short of military assets to permit a U.S .response. Bush has run our military into the thin red numbers zone and we are short-handed.

In Iraq, al Maliki entered into deeper negotiation with the U.S. concerning the Status of Forces Agreement that expires in December. This as General Petreaus wraps up his tour of Iraq and prepares a report on surge effectiveness. Not noticed by the media was his pronouncement that perhaps the surge was not needed, that we have a very tenuous peace due mainly to the cease fire actions of al Sadr, and that the U.S. must plan to vacate Iraq over the next 16 months. Al Maliki also insists that U.S. Forces must be held accountable for their behavior under Iraqi Law – something that is galling to the Bush Administration and to most American observers. Behavior of U.S. contractors such as Blackwater has been the main reason for the Iraqi insistence on legal accountability for contractors and soldiers.

In Pakistan the government has failed. The prior government resigned, the coalition took over the reins of government, and then the coalition promptly fell apart. This is dangerous for the U.S. because it leaves our troops somewhat exposed if we are denied over-flight permission. In that case the ability to get supplies and munitions to our forces becomes more problematic. It is also a failure of Democracy for Pakistan and has created a lot of confusion about the future of Pakistan.

In Afghanistan the fighting has intensified. The Taliban is getting bolder, the NATO forces are getting thinner, there is not enough boots to secure and hold territory, and a crisis is brewing for the U.S. in Afghanistan. We could lose the war there.

Iran is feeling the weight of sanctions as they begin to feel world condemnation for their insistence on nuclear weapons.

As the DNC Convention opened North Korea was angered by the Bush refusal to keep his end of the bargain and remove them from the terrorist watch list. As long as they are there their people keep on starving, they have heavy sanctions imposed on them, they are denied access to world capital for investment, and their plight remains stark. In retaliation they have stopped nuclear disarmament. Bush has egg on his face over this one and looks to be reneging on the deal.

The U.S. economy continued to deteriorate as evidence of high inflation, continued unemployment and job losses have mounted bolstering the case for recession in America. Oil has been coming down in price, the dollar is strengthening against the Euro, gold is dropping, and all seemed to be on the upswing and then along comes Hurricane Gustave threatening the Gulf Oil Rigs and the Louisiana storage facilities. The Gulf States are preparing for evacuation as the storm gathers force and during the GOP Convention it will act as a strong reminder of the failed management of Katrina some three years ago. As a result gasoline prices climbed just in time for the Labor Day weekend.

The week ahead looks stormy indeed for the U.S. reminding us of the need to conclude our elections, obtain a change of government leadership, and make changes to American domestic and foreign policy.