1) Japan was maneuvered into firing the first shot by Roosevelt after he had suspended oil imports and financed Japan’s enemies- among them the brutal Chiang Kai-shek- in China. Parenthetically, it is clear that the US regarded the Japanese threat in purely economic terms- the War Department’s memo warned of dire consequences resulting from the loss of American markets in the Far East. The same applies to Germany. Of course, that would not have been a problem save for the state-enforced regulatory cartelization and tariffs of industry that prevented the prices of goods from falling to the point of market clearance and necessitated the expansion of overseas markets to allow industry to operate at full capacity while retaining monopoly profits. The situation could be resolved by, among other things, dismantling the incipient state-corporate nexus but this would have been unpopular with big business, Roosevelt’s primary constituency. For an excellent treatment of the topic, I recommend the following:

Monopoly Capitalism and Imperialism by Kevin Carson: http://www.mutualist.org/id78.html

The Role of State Monopoly Capitalism in the American Empire by Joseph Stromberg: http://mises.org/journals/jls/15_3/15_3_3.pdf

2) The creation of the North-South divide was America’s doing, after the ephemeral Korean People’s Republic was abolished by (American) decree. Due to the intensity of Korean nationalism many in Korea preferred unification- even on the North’s terms.

3) For once, I agree with you.

4) Milosevic was very much a Stalinoid authoritarian of the old school, not the ethnic chauvinist he is depicted as- his electoral platform was one of maintaining the integrity of the old FSRY. The break-up of Yugoslavia and resulting cycle of ethnic violence resulted from Western, particularly European, support for the breakaway states of Slovenia and Croatia, within whom ultranationalist parties were far stronger than in Serbia. The Badington Commission ruled against the right of considerable Serbian minorities within the constituent republics to secede, a ruling that was subsequently upheld after the Yugoslav wars. The result, naturally, was Serbian support for ethnic nationalism within the perpetrator of Srebenica, the Republika Srpska. This is the political context that you elide.

5) Curiously, the US government refused to present Afghanistan with evidence of Bin Laden’s wrongdoing. This could be read multiple ways, but my personal hypothesis is that the 9/11 attacks were conceived and executed by some lower echelon of Al-Qaeda.

6) Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait was triggered by the latter’s violation of oil production quotas and the slant-drilling into the Rumaila oil field. The former had a devastating economic impact upon Iraq. The catalyst for the invasion, however, was America’s refusal to take a stance on the issue until the eve of the invasion. While not strictly relevant, it is also worthwhile to note that the US systematically destroyed Iraq’s civilian infrastructure and subjected it to a series of crippling economic sanctions that were directly responsible for the deaths of a million Iraqi children.

So the US definitively occupies the position of “bad guy”. Naturally it does not differ in this respect from any other state, its particular character being determined by its internal structure rather than anything so nebulous as “ideology”.

Peace!

I did find this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya6JfFK_lYQ

but it difficult to make sense of what Paul is trying to say. He seems to be under the impression that the Russians, mimicking the United States, made a “preemptive strike” on Georgia.

Come again?

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I am writing you with very exciting news about the upcoming Rally for the Republic in Minneapolis and I wanted you, one of my strongest supporters, to be among the first to know.

First, I want to again thank you for your thoughts and concern about Carol. I am very happy to say she is doing much better and though I am still very concerned, I am cautiously optimistic of a full recovery.

Now for the news.

I am happy to announce that Country Music Superstar Sara Evans will perform as a special treat for Rally for the Republic attendees. Sara Evans, a multi-platinum recording artist and 2006 Academy of Country Music Female Vocalist of the Year, will bring her remarkable talents to an already stellar cast of performers and speakers for this kick off of my Campaign for Liberty.

The Georgian sneak attack on Ossetia and the Russians, as well as the Poles getting at least part of the additional remuneration they asked for in return for accepting the missile shield, no doubt adds an important element to the mix.

From past behavior, and despite his incompetent game, Brzezinski is surely ready for more play at the Grand Chessboard with the Russians, if indeed he did not have a role sub rosa in engineering it.

Will this be centrally featured at the Democrat Convention?

If Obama takes him seriously, even just for the purposes of getting elected, the conventions may well be cast, respectively, as Churchill versus John F. Kennedy.

While the electorate sleeps.

Incidentally, has anyone heard anything interesting or unexpected from Ron Paul and the “revolution” recently?

Peace!