Category: Foreign Relations

Our Financial Crisis, Brought to You by the WTO

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There are a lot of people out there who think that free trade will always do all kinds of good things: It creates peace, it creates democracy, it keeps your daughter from dating the guy with the tattoos and piercings.

I’m not one of these people.

First, I think that we have yet to see an economy becoming a developed economy with a large middle class in a free trade environment, and second, I think that a bad free trade deal is worse than no, or a more limited, free trade deal.

Well it appears that on March 1, 1999, the United States signed onto a free trade deal that mandated the sort of reckless deregulation that has nearly destroyed out economy:

But the U.S. is not being sold out in a vacuum.

On March 1, 1999, countries accounting for more than 90 per cent of the global financial services market signed onto the World Trade Organization’s Financial Services Agreement (FSA). By signing the FSA, they committed to deregulate their financial markets.

For example, by signing the FSA, the U.S. agreed not to break up too big to fails. The U.S. also promised to repeal Glass-Steagall, and did so 8 months after signing the FSA.

Indeed, in signing the FSA and other WTO agreements, the U.S. has legally bound itself as follows:

  • No new regulation: The United States agreed to a “standstill provision” that requires that we not create new regulations (or reverse liberalization) for the list of financial services bound to comply with WTO rules. Given that the United States has made broad WTO financial services commitments – and thus is forbidden by this provision from imposing new regulations in these many areas – this provision seriously limits the policy [options] available to address the current crisis.
  • Removal of regulation: The United States even agreed to try to even eliminate domestic financial service regulatory policies that meet GATS [i.e. General Agreement on Trade in Services] rules, but that may still “adversely affect the ability of financial service suppliers of any other (WTO) Member to operate, compete, or enter” the market.
  • No bans on new financial service “products”: The United States is also bound to ensure that foreign financial service suppliers are permitted “to offer in its territory any new financial service,” a direct conflict with the various proposals to limit various risky investment instruments, such as certain types of derivatives.
  • Certain forms of regulation banned outright: The United States agreed that it would not set limits on the size, corporate form or other characteristics of foreign firms in the broad array of financial services it signed up to WTO strictures …
  • Treating foreign and domestic firms alike is not sufficient: The GATS market-access limits on U.S. domestic regulation apply in absolute terms; that is to say, even if a policy applies to domestic and foreign firms alike, if it goes beyond what WTO rules permit, it is forbidden. And, forms of regulation not outright banned by the market-access requirements must not inadvertently “modify the conditions of competition in favor of services or service suppliers” of the United States, even if they apply identically to foreign and domestic firms.

In other words, the problem isn’t just that Congress and the White House have sold out to the Wall Street giants.

The problem is also that the U.S. has signed WTO agreements that have given the keys to the too big to fails, and have neutered their regulators. Even if some politicians tried to stand up to Wall Street – or even if we “throw out all of the bums” currently in political roles – the U.S. would still be locked into the WTO’s scheme for helping the financial giants to grow ever bigger and to take ever-bigger and ever-riskier gambles.

Yet another reason to oppose the so-called “Doha” round, which promises to deregulate financial services even further.

What has gone on at the WTO is that it has been functioned as a prostitute for elements in our economy which do not produce tangible goods, finance, insurance, entertainment, patent holders, etc. at the expense of absolutely everything else in the economy.

It’s killing us.

Of Course They Were Trying To Steal Children

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For a few days, the Baptist missionaries currently detained in Haiti for trafficking in children has been in the news, and I have been marinating on this.

At its most basic, I think that this was a deliberate attempt to abduct these children, though I think that money was at the root of this evil.

These people weren’t just missing paperwork, they were moving children out of the country for a purpose: to save souls.

They believed that these children would go to hell unless they were raised as, and became, Baptists, so they were breaking the law to “save” these children, some of whom were probably actually had living relatives.

So, much like William Calley, they likely, “destroyed families to save them”.

You must understand, notwithstanding all the stories about Voodoo in Haiti, the populace there is overwhelming (80%) Catholic, and these people were not rescuing people from Voodoo, but from Catholicism, which they see as not Christian, and hence a road straight to hell.

This is the evil that true believers do: Stealing children from the families.

As to the disposition, should it be determined in court that they are guilty, they should go to jail for a very long time.

Any consideration in terms of sentencing on the of the sincerity of their faith will just encourage more people with similar world views to do similarly evil things.

FWIW, I chose the Al Jazeera link just because it f%$#s with these people, here is the Google news link.

Deep Thought

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Reminds Me of a Certain Super Bowl Ad

Hillary Clinton has just announced that it’s now official US policy for countries to allow their internet access to be free and uncensored:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled on Thursday a new U.S. policy that encourages the world’s governments to ensure their citizens have open access to the Internet.

The speech comes a little more than a week after Google’s blunt declaration about Chinese censorship and illegal electronic intrusions, and the company’s assertion that it will pull out of China if it can’t reach a reasonable understanding with the Beijing government.

9:54 a.m. EST Clinton took the stage here at the Newseum, a museum dedicated to the news industry, and appealed to the audience to think of the communications networks that have been destroyed in last week’s massive earthquake in Haiti. She also noted how a mother and daughter in Haiti enabled their rescue by sending a text message. Clinton called communication networks a “new nervous system” for the world.

“In many respects, information has never been so free,” Clinton said. She referred to the way that virtually anyone can broadcast information to the Internet at any time. But governments can also use Internet and communications technologies to repress their people, she said, “just as steel can be used to build hospitals or machine guns.”

My first thought was, “Good for her,” and by extension, Barack Obama.

My one, and the the one that falls into the “Deep Thought” category, is that picture really looks like that “1984” ad that an Obamanite put out during the primaries.

Iceland Considering Dropping Icesave Bill

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It looks like they are on their way to losing the referendum, so the Icelandic government is looking at withdrawing the bill and renegotiating terms with the British and Dutch.

There are only 320 thousand people on the island, and the legislators have a pretty good idea on how the voters feel, because they know, and have talked with, a lot of them.

Fundamentally, the voters are showing a level of courage that the politicians are not, and refusing to be blackmailed.

Bush-Cheney Were Even Crazier Than We Imagined

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During the Russian-Georgian war in 2008, Bush and His Evil Minions™ considered military strikes against Russia:

As Russian tanks rumbled into Georgia in 2008, a post-Cold War turning point was at hand.

George W. Bush’s national security team considered launching air strikes to halt the invasion. …………

…………

Thus we learn that “several senior White House staffers” urged “at least some consideration of limited military options,” such as bombing the mountain tunnel that served as Russia’s main supply line.

What part of the phrase, “Russia has around 10,000 nuclear warheads in its arsenal,” didn’t these guys get?

Great googly moogly!

Why is He Acting Like Bush?

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So the Grauniad* is covering Obama’s picking up his Nobel Peace Prize, and their title says it all, Nobel peace prize: Norwegians incensed over Barack Obama’s snubs:

Barack Obama’s trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner.

Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit.

The White House has cancelled many of the events peace prize laureates traditionally submit to, including a dinner with the Norwegian Nobel committee, a press conference, a television interview, appearances at a children’s event promoting peace and a music concert, as well as a visit to an exhibition in his honour at the Nobel peace centre.

He has also turned down a lunch invitation from the King of Norway.

(emphasis mine)

Let’s be clear: He’s president of the United States of the America, and he’s a busy guy, so some of the stuff should fall by the wayside, but ditching a lunch with the King of Norway?

I’m not sure what’s behind this, but it seems to be nothing more than an outbreak or gratuitousl rudeness because they can.

Sounds like Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld, and how they treated “old Europe”.

*According to the Wiki, The Guardian, formerly the Manchester Guardian in the UK. It’s nicknamed the Grauniad because of its penchant for typographical errors, “The nickname The Grauniad for the paper originated with the satirical magazine Private Eye. It came about because of its reputation for frequent and sometimes unintentionally amusing typographical errors, hence the popular myth that the paper once misspelled its own name on the page one masthead as The Gaurdian, though many recall the more inventive The Grauniad.”

Stupid

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So, the crew of the HMS Scimitar decided to do target practice on a buoy, which should be no big deal, only before opening fire, they adorned their target the Spanish Flag, and the ambassador to Spain has been forced to apologize:

The Royal Navy was accused yesterday of using a Spanish flag as a machine-gun target.

Giles Paxman, the UK’s new ambassador in Madrid, was forced to apologise after sailors fired at a red-and-yellow flag affixed to a buoy while patrolling off Gibraltar.

He was summoned to the Spanish Foreign Ministry for a dressing down and officials said he had conceded there had been an ‘error of judgement’.

I’m not entirely sure why the crew did this, it was not for any historical purposes, as the anniversary of the battle of the Spanish Armada was August 8.

My guess is that this has something to do with the 300 year long dispute over Gibraltar, but even so, I think that one ship captain is facing early retirement in Her Majesty’s Navy.

US Wimps Out on Honduras, Tries to Fix Problem They Created

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So, the cut a deal between the President of Honduras, and the leaders of the coup that ousted him.

It’s a fairly simple deal, a power sharing arrangement, but then the coup leaders decide that they can’t hold a vote to approve this until after the elections, meaning that they will be in complete control of the electoral process, and doubtless engaging in fraud, and the response of the Obama administration is, “Sounds good to me”:

Under fire from allies in Latin America and on Capitol Hill, the Obama administration moved Tuesday to try to salvage the American-brokered agreement that had been billed as paving the way for a peaceful end to the coup in Honduras. Instead, the accord seems to have provided the country’s de facto government with a way to stay in power until a presidential election scheduled for the end of this month.

The State Department sent Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly to Honduras on Tuesday for meetings with Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted from power as president more than four months ago, and with the head of the de facto government, Roberto Micheletti.

The problem here is that when bad people seize power, they like to hold onto it, and the Obama administration took a cowardly position, because they just did not want to be bothered with little things like the principle of democracy and free elections:

The deal began to unravel last week when the Congress announced it would postpone a vote on Mr. Zelaya’s return to power until after the election. In protest, Mr. Zelaya then refused to submit names for the coalition government. And the United States, breaking with its allies in Latin America, announced it would recognize the results of the coming presidential election, even if Mr. Zelaya were not reinstated.

A hint that this move on their part was a completely boneheaded move that gave succor to tyrants? This:

While the announcement was celebrated by Republicans as a “reversal” of the administration’s policy, it ignited a storm of criticism from Mr. Obama’s allies at home and across Latin America.

If you are getting cheers from the ‘Phants, you are on the wrong side of the argument.

What happened here is that it was pressure from other Latin American nations that forced the State Department to start talking about sanctions against the coup leaders, and the Treasury started talking about possible restrictions on remittances, which created an agreement.

The problem was that once the agreement was signed, signals were sent indicating that the US no longer had any interest in the matter.

This is a big deal for a number of reasons.

First, it is a reversal on the progress toward democracies in Latin America, and second it has some very real implications for US foreign policy in the region, because, unlike the US (and Canada), the rest of this hemisphere takes a very dim view on green lighting coups, because they all remember the bad old days when the overthrow of a legitimately elected government, sometimes at the request of US corporate interests, was the rule, rather than the exception.

China and Russia are both making significant efforts in the region, both in terms of securing raw materials and making military sales, and this, along with out completely boneheaded policies on Cuba, are likely to make Latin American countries much more receptive to their overtures.

Of Course They Don’t, The Wall Street Owns Them

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Note: These numbers are inflation adjusted

So, after Gordon Brown finally comes out in favor of a Tobin tax on financial transactions, Timothy “Eddie Haskell” Geithner comes out categorically against it:

A day-by-day financial transaction tax is not something we are prepared to support,” Geithner said in an interview with Sky News. In his concluding press conference, Geithner was asked repeatedly to say why he opposed such a tax on banks and indicated he doubted its effectiveness.

“This idea (of a bank transaction tax) has been around for a long time…I think frankly the experiences are mixed,” he said, expressing an American view that there was no widespread backing for such a tax.

The banks f%$#ed us all, we spent to bail them out than on, “WW1&2 (omitted from graphic), the moon shot, the New Deal, total NASA budgets (omitted from graphic), Iraq, Viet Nam and Korean wars — COMBINED,” but somehow it’s unreasonable to place a tax on speculation, to:

  • Reduce speculation.
  • Pay for their own bailout.

The Obama administration has its tongue so far up Wall Street’s ass that it is tasting tonsils.

Barack Obama, Objectively Pro Genital Mutilation Since 2009

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Britain’s high court has ruled that all evidence of Binyam Mohamed by the CIA and its proxies will be reviewed in open court, despite the protestations of Foreign Secretary David Miliband to keep this matter hush hush.

As I noted earlier, one of the tortures was to have his genitals sliced with a scalpel and irritating liquids loured in the wounds.

This is what the British government, at the urging of the US government were trying to make “go away”.

Rather predictably, the Obama administration has condemned the decision by the court to reveal crimes against humanity:

Meanwhile, US State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said: “We are not pleased”, adding that Washington kept such information confidential “to protect our own citizens”.

Anyone who did this, or allowed it to be done, is a criminal, and should be tried and imprisoned, not protected.

It should also be noted that the Obama administration has threatened to withhold intelligence from the British if the details of their torture get out.

Congress Passes Limits on Military Aid to Pakistan

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Basically, after the clusterf%$# that was support for Pervez Musharraf and His Evil Minions™ by George W. Bush and His Evil Minions™, where military aid to Pakistan went to parts unknown, Congress has placed restrictions on military aid to ensure that it will go to fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda, and not to building up the military for a war with India…And yes, maybe it will reduce graft a bit too:

Military payments to Pakistan must be in the interests of U.S. national security and mustn’t “affect the balance of power in the region,” according to a provision attached to the defense authorization bill passed yesterday by the Senate.

The restriction comes as the Pakistani army continues its biggest offensive against militants in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, where 28,000 soldiers have been deployed to fight guerrillas blamed for 80 percent of terrorist attacks in the country.

It’s about fracking time that we made it clear to Pakistan that we would not be supporting another useless and bloody war with India.

What’s Up With Petraeus Disrespecting a Foreign Head of Government?*

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Gen. David Petraeus, head of US Central Command, left, shakes hand with Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, prior to their talks at the Prime Minister’s residence in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday.


General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, meets British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street, in London, on October 1, 2009

OK, so I’m reading an article regarding differences between the Pakistani and US Military, and I see this picture, with that caption.

What’s wrong with this picture? The fact that General David Petraeus is meeting with a prime-minister of an allied country in his fatigues (I know, technically the Army Combat Uniform) at the Prime Minister’s residence, not some air field named Camp Middle-of-Nowhere.

While I understand that the chain of command for the US military goes through the White House, and not the Pakistani PM’s official residence, it seems to me that when one shows up at such a place, whether you civilian or military, you should wear something that involves….You know…A tie.

Notice when another 4 star General, meets another Prime Minister, one who has a lot less skin pigment, and speaks English with near native fluency, somehow or other the tie comes out

My guess is that this is not about racism, but rather about the way that Petraeus has sold himself, as America great warrior™, and he therefore wants to be seen by the press and the public as a warrior, and so he wears a “battle uniform”, but that’s psychoanalysis from a distance, and if you do that you become Charles Krauthammer, and I really do not want to head down that road.

*In a parliamentary system, the PM is head of government, and a president (or monarch) is head of state. In the United States, the President is both.

Russia’s Adopts Nuclear First Strike Policy

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While worrisome, it represents a reversal of the Soviet/Russian “no first strike” policy adopted in the 1980s, but it should be noted that this new policy will not will be effectively identical to that of the US, which has repudiated calls for it to take a “no first strike” policies since the 1980s.

It’s nothing to tear one’s hair out about, unless you are Georgian President Saakashvili, where it might be seen as a shot across the bow towards NATO involvement in the region….But then again, he doesn’t tear out his hair, he chews on his tie.

“In situations critical for national security, a preventive nuclear strike against the aggressor is not ruled out,” he said.

The section of Russia’s military doctrine about the opportunity to use nuclear weapons was formulated to preserve the status of a nuclear power for the Russian Federation. The document states that Russia can apply nuclear deterrence against potential enemies to prevent aggression against Russia and its allies.

I think that the video below puts everything in decent perspective:

You Have Got to Be Kidding Me

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So, it appears that the House of Saud, whose two businesses are shaking the world down for oil, and shaking down observant Muslims on Haj to Mecca are now saying that they want compensation if the world starts burning less oil.

They are claiming that, “assisting us as oil-exporting countries in achieving economic diversification,” is basic fairness.

Ummm….You are getting plenty of money now. Put your royal family on a more reasonable allowance, stop bankrolling a Neanderthal view of Islam around the world, and spend that money in diversifying your damn economy.

You have at least a decade before anything changes to do this. If you choose not to, you can go Cheney yourselves.

Good News in Honduras

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It appears that a deal has been agreed to regarding President Manuel Zelaya. (also here)

Whether or not Zelaya needed to be removed from office, what happened was a coup. He was abducted at gunpoint by the military and put in exile: That’s a coup.

If there had been a vote in parliament, or an order from the courts to arrest him, that would be a legal removal.

I will note here that the lack of involvement of Obama and the State Department is both striking and depressing.

Now I Get the Nobel Prize

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It was for the “Beer Summit“:

OSLO (The Borowitz Report) – As the world responded with a mixture of surprise and amazement to the announcement of President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel insiders revealed that the President’s “beer summit” at the White House put him over the top.

“The committee was definitely split down the middle right up until the end,” said Agot Valle, a Norwegian politician and member of the five-person Nobel committee. “Some of them were still quite upset about that nasty business with the Somali pirates.”

As Dotcommie at the Stellar Parthenon BBS noted:

Getting the Israelis and the Egyptians to talk was WAY easier than a Boston Cop and a Black Man.

Troof.