Category Archives: Barack Obama

Who has really won the Afghan ‘War’ ?

August 12, 2010 – 12:55 pm

Clue: not the Taliban Last year, full of dudgeon, Thus posted a modest and moderate commentary on the 2009 Afghan ‘election’ http://thusmagazine.com/2009/11/afghan-democracy-postponed-in-an-orgy-of-hypocrisy/. Read it and weep – or laugh sardonically, depending upon your smug levels. I’m certainly not proud of stating the obvious, then or now. The ‘war’ (called, with no hint of irony ‘Operation [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Afghanistan, Insurgency, War on Terror, democracy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Afghan democracy postponed in an orgy of hypocrisy

November 3, 2009 – 1:43 pm

Thus predicted this outcome so long ago and so many times that I can scarcely be bothered to highlight our previous posts. Yet the grotesque reality of the US, Britain, NATO and especially the UN rewarding endemic fraud, corruption and weak government by a second term, all enacted under the banner of democracy, surpasses all [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Afghanistan, Development, Global security, Insurgency, carpet bombing, citizens' rights, democracy, ethnic cleansing | Comments Off

A government of national unity is the least worst option for Afghanistan

September 14, 2009 – 1:57 pm

A credible, inclusive and secure election was intended to deliver a government with sufficient legitimacy to win back the trust of the population and to work with the US and NATO to restore Afghan Sovereignty.  Instead, the Afghan population in general, and the youth and political activists in particular, now believe that a deeply flawed [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Afghanistan, Culture, Global security, Insurgency, democracy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The extradition of Gary McKinnon to the US is undemocratic, downright stupid and illegal

July 13, 2009 – 1:03 pm

I’m angry because nobody read my post last November and if they did, it didn’t change a thing (so what’s new). So is Sarah Brown, Gordon’s wife, as well she might be, living with a tripehead. But we’re both angry today because yet another miscarriage of justice is poised to be committed in the name [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in British Constitution, British identity, Global security, Law and order, Totalitarian drift, UK politics, US Politics, Uk Home Office, War on Terror, democracy, extradition, human rights abuse, miscarriage of justice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Ashraf Ghani runs for Afghan Presidency on anti-corruption ticket

June 28, 2009 – 11:53 pm

Afghanistan could become Obama’s Vietnam, if it isn’t already. Al Qaida, the Taliban and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalyse have never been in ruder health. By John J Kelly. Drone bombing insurgents, much less civilians, will not win the ‘war on terror’ in Afghanistan, which has now spread to Pakistan, enabling the possibility of [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Afghanistan, Development, Global security, Insurgency, Law and order, Middle East, US Politics, United Nations, War on Terror, carpet bombing, democracy, human rights abuse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Do as we say, not as we do, the new model of Democracy Inc.

June 20, 2009 – 6:28 am

Not long ago, in a country far away, the world held its breath as a tightly-fought election drew to its climax. The popular democratic candidate appeared to have won, but at the last minute, 25 key votes from the electoral college of a state run by the candidate’s brother assured victory for the son of [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Genocide, Global security, Intifada, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Middle East, carpet bombing, ethnic cleansing, gaza | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Obama opts to continue with 'Preventive Detention'

May 24, 2009 – 9:28 pm

This article, originally published on ProPublica, deals with the Obama volte-face on holding prisoners without charge in Guantanamo Bay. It’s a long piece, but not as long as the sentences already served and, by all accounts, about to be extended, to several people who have been denied the right to a fair trial and held in [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Afghanistan, George W Bush, Global security, Insurgency, Policy, Totalitarian drift, US Politics, War on Terror, human rights abuse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Hyena men and Ethiopian young entrepreneurs

April 2, 2009 – 3:29 pm

A couple of months ago I went to Eastern Ethiopia with my friend Simon Biltcliffe. It was mind-altering in many ways, not least because we travelled from London to the eastern region, near(ish) to the Somalian border and back to London in four days. Economy all the way, I might add. We landed in the [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Africa, Development, Ethiopia, Human rights, Somalia, food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Man from Del Monte, he talk bollocks!

March 30, 2009 – 12:37 pm

   Lula da Silva says this problem was caused by white men with blue eyes. That lets both of us off the hook   Several Latin American leaders have reported the same disturbing hallucination. A rumpled fat man with a very large head, dressed in a cheap suit and badly-knotted tie turns up unannounced and tries [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Banking, Development, Economics, International Affairs, Latin America, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

The Great Satan turns Jolly Green Giant – don't knock it!

March 27, 2009 – 8:29 am

According to Slashdot.org, ‘the nuts and bolts of news for nerds’ – to which I confess I’m addicted, US companies waste at least $2.8 billion per year on leaving unattended PCs switched on. A US government report also claims that idling PCs are responsible for an extraordinary 20 million tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to [...]

By John Kelly | Also posted in Energy, Green issues, consumers, energy policy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off