Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill talks about his bombshell story in The Nation about Blackwater’s involvement in targeted killings, drone attacks, and other covert operations in Pakistan.
A lot of people are pinning their hopes that the new American President will bring change, especially to the destructive foreign policies initiated by his predecessor. His inauguration speech was no doubt very inspiring, it was like a breath of fresh air listening to it compared to the donkey that inhabited the White House before him. People are focusing on the colour of his skin as the impetus for initiating change but before I throw in full support behind him, I want to see what his actions are.
If you are looking for historical pictures of President-elect Barack Obama and his family, there is a good resource online which you can see here. A very interesting collection of photographs of a young Barack Obama, his parents and grandparents, as well as his family.
There was never any doubt in my mind that Obama would win the Presidency of the United States. People were getting fed-up with the eight years of Rethuglicans misrule and the economic situation didn’t help either. So they elected an intelligent, charismatic candidate who can deliver the goods.
Despite the Democrat win, I am still adopting a “look-and-see” approach to how President Obama will handle the many problems left behind by the Bush administration. The only things I want done differently is that the US must pull out of Iraq, be an honest broker for a just peace in the Middle East, vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue and stop threatening countries with war if they do not get their way.
No prizes for guessing whose side I am on and if you still can’t figure it out, then its obvious you don’t bother about US politics. I have been leaning towards Democrat candidates for as long as I can remember, because of their generally non-interventionist foreign policy and internal social reforms, both of which involves less war and more peace.
And we certainly need a lot of that in current times.
Ironically, I could have participated in the voting since I am a born-American (and that, folks, makes me a US citizen) but I choose not to. Firstly, because it is such a bother having to travel to the US embassy and prove that you are an American (and I haven’t renewed my US passport for like 20 years) and secondly, I already had my fair share of excitement voting in the last GE. So I think I’ll just cheer by the sidelines and hope for an Obama-Biden victory….