WaPo: New Rumsfeld Power-Play

[shraby]

This is some pretty unsettling stuff....

New Plans Foresee Fighting Terrorism Beyond War Zones

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has approved the military's most ambitious plan yet to fight terrorism around the world and retaliate more rapidly and decisively in the case of another major terrorist attack on the United States, according to defense officials.

The long-awaited campaign plan for the global war on terrorism, as well as two subordinate plans also approved within the past month by Rumsfeld, are considered the Pentagon's highest priority, according to officials familiar with the three documents who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about them publicly.

Details of the plans are secret, but in general they envision a significantly expanded role for the military -- and, in particular, a growing force of elite Special Operations troops -- in continuous operations to combat terrorism outside of war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan. Developed over about three years by the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) in Tampa, the plans reflect a beefing up of the Pentagon's involvement in domains traditionally handled by the Central Intelligence Agency and the State Department.

For example, SOCOM has dispatched small teams of Army Green Berets and other Special Operations troops to U.S. embassies in about 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America, where they do operational planning and intelligence gathering to enhance the ability to conduct military operations where the United States is not at war.

(more)

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/22/AR2006042201124.html>

[Erika]

1. W, the imperialist, on the march

Let no country be untouched by his corporate globalism and empire building. He will elimanate the middle class completely.

We, and the world, fear Rumsfeld and his minions far more than any other terrorists.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

2. Operation Phoenix on a global scale. Lovely.

[librarycard]

3. Rather than get rid of Rummy, they push forward w/PNAC

Send in the people with the white coats, carrying straight jackets and keys to a padded cell.

[lebkuchen]

4. The retired generals were probably briefed on this insanity

and decided to preempt Rummy by going public en masse.

This WaPo piece should be in latest breaking news.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Latin America? What could "elite Special Ops troops" be doing in Latin

America--a region that is undergoing a simply amazing, peaceful, democratic, leftist revolution?

"...to enhance the ability to conduct military operations where the United States is not at war."

Is that not...ahem...unconstitutional--and damned illegal and in violation of all sorts of international agreements?

My belly turns over, to think of a return of that region to the days of U.S.-trained death squads and the 'disappeared." I really and truly don't think it will happen. The Latin American revolution is huge and deep* and now covers most of the continent (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia, and soon Peru). It's also moving north--we'll likely see the leftist mayor of Mexico City elected president of Mexico this year.

I'm inclined to think that THIS is why Latin America would be included in Rumsfeld's Nazi plan--to provide military protection for U.S. oil corporations and other global corporate predators, not to overturn this democratic revolution, which the Bush junta cannot do, but to try to retain control of resources, assets and land, and to cause trouble, to pick at the edges, from any perch they can gain or hang onto.

One of the hallmarks of the revolution in Bolivia was the Bolivians--in a grass roots uprising--throwing Bechtel out of their country (for privatizing the water in one Bolivian city, then jacking up the prices to the poor--even trying to charge poor peasants for collecting rainwater!). I strongly doubt that Rumsfeld's jackboots can reverse this kind of rebellion--it is grounded in a widespread revolt against U.S. corporate rulers all over the continent. Corporations like Bechtel won't make new headway--but there are still lots of entrenched U.S. economic interests that could use specific "special ops," or military protection of some kind.

The Bolivians then elected Evo Morales as president--the first indigenous Indian ever to be elected president of Bolivia. Morales opposes the murderous U.S. "war on drugs." The so-called "war on drugs," of course, is a major U.S. fascist enterprise. And this may also be what Rumsfeldian "special ops" teams are for--to continue fostering and profiting from the drug trade. Morales has an interesting perspective on this--as an Indian. He opposes the cartels and criminal drug trade, but campaigned with a wreath of coca leaves around his neck. The coca leaf is a sacred plant to Andean Indians--essential to survival in the frigid, high altitude mountains. He parents were coca leaf growers. But he is not alone in wanting an end to this kind of violent U.S. interference. That sentiment, too, is widespread. The U.S. "war on drugs" is often just an excuse to kill leftists.

The new South American leaders are a savvy lot, and they are not going to be easily bullied and intimidated. The new president of Chile, for instance--their first woman president, Michele Batchelet--was tortured by the U.S.-backed dictator Pinochet. She is well aware of the history of U.S. interference in her country and the region. And one of her first moves in office has been to try to settle a 125 year old dispute with Peru and Bolivia over coastal access. And there are many other such initiatives going forward to create Latin America economic, political and security unity--AGAINST THE U.S. They are in fact sick of us! They despise Bush. They are into self-determination, and they have political strength and common purpose.

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*(The key to this incredible revolution has been TRANSPARENT elections--elections where the votes are actually counted and the majority wins. This did not happen overnight. It is the result of a lot of hard work--by local civic groups and grass roots activists, the OAS, EU election monitoring groups and the Carter Center. U.S. voters, take note! If we want to get rid of Rumsfeld and the rest of these criminals, we need to do some basic democracy work here in the U.S. Throwing rightwing Bushite corporations and their "trade secret" vote counting software out of our election system would be a good beginning!)