The US and Allies to Give Away $16 Billion to the New "Major Ally" Afghanistan, Pledge Made in Conference in Tokyo

Following the declaration by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Afghanistan is now a "major, non-NATO ally" of the United States, an 80-nation conference to cough up money for the newly minted US ally was held in Tokyo, in which international donors including the ever-obliging Japanese government pledged the total of $16 billion through 2015.

And what will the donors get from the Afghanistan's government in exchange?

Get this: "commitments to crack down on corruption".

From The Hill (7/8/2012):

Clinton hails international pledges to donate $16B for Afghan development
By Meghashyam Mali - 07/08/12 08:06 AM ET

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hailed international donors on Sunday for pledging to provide Afghanistan with $16 billion in aid thorough 2015 in exchange for commitments to crack down on corruption in that country.

Clinton announced the agreement after a conference on Afghan development hosted in Japan.

Clinton said the sum was “more than enough to meet the World Bank’s estimated requirements.” The bank had estimated that Afghanistan faced a $3.9 billion shortfall between previous pledges and the amount the country would need to sustain their economic development.

Clinton stressed that the pledges were tied to promises to begin tackling widespread corruption in the country, which had made international donors hesitant to contribute.

“We need a different kind of long-term economic partnership, one built on Afghan progress in meeting its goals, in fighting corruption, in carrying out reform, and providing good governance,” she said in a press conference.

Reports said Japan had initially sought $18 billion in commitments, but settled for a lower figure after continued doubts about Hamid Karzai’s ability to institute reforms.

... ...

The development aid pledged Sunday would be spent on healthcare and education and would be in addition to $4.1 billion in military aid pledged to Afghanistan.

On Saturday, Clinton also arrived in Kabul on an unannounced visit to announce the administration’s designation of Afghanistan as a “major non-NATO ally.” That announcement is part of a broader strategic partnership between Washington and Kabul.

In Tokyo, Clinton said the U.S. was committed to ensure that the transition to a democratic Afghanistan was “irreversible and that Afghanistan can never again be a safe haven for international terrorism.”

“Just as we met in Chicago three months ago to safeguard Afghanistan’s security future, today we have charted a way forward on Afghanistan’s economic requirements,” she said.

But Clinton cautioned that Afghanistan would eventually need to pull itself off dependence on international aid. “I believe that we have really made a good commitment to putting Afghanistan on a path to economic self-sufficiency,” she said. “As Afghan capacity and revenues increase, our contributions can decline.”

(Full article at the link)

They can, but they may not. I doubt that Afghan self-sufficiency is ever a goal for the US.

Becoming a "major non-NATO US ally" means more military and economic assistance from the US. Snippets from CNN News (7/7/2012):

... it makes Afghanistan eligible to receive military training and assistance, including expediting the sales and leasing of military equipment long after NATO troops leave.

"There are a number of benefits that accrue to countries that have this designation," she said. "They are able to have access to excess defense supplies, for example, and they can be part of certain kinds of training and capacity building."

(I'd be more than happy to crack down on corruption in my household. Can I get a million dollar or two?)

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Paging US Secretary of State Who Was Snubbed by #Egypt, Paging.... Paging...

As Japan faces potential nuclear Armageddon, we know the Prez of the US is going to Rio with his family. And where is the Secretary of State, in this time of international crisis?

She goes to Egypt and Tunisia of course.

Good for you Egyptians to snub her. Tunisians, do the same, and send her packing. (Not that she's any use here in the US...)

Mediaite.com reports (3/15/2011):

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Cairo this morning, but she won’t be meeting with a coalition of six youth groups that emerged from Egypt’s revolution last month. In a blunt snub, members of the January 25 Revolution Youth Coalition said “based on (Clinton’s) negative position from the beginning of the revolution and the position of the US administration in the Middle East, we reject this invitation.”

ABC News reports a Clinton spokesperson had no immediate reaction to the snub, but a State Department official told the network a meeting had been planned for Tuesday, and Clinton still plans to meet with “members of civil society and transitional government officials” as she urges “Egyptians to continue on the path toward democracy.”

The snub comes after comments Clinton made as recently as 2009, when she said in an interview with Al Arabiya “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family. So I hope to see him often here in Egypt and in the United States.” Those words–and a perception in Cairo that Clinton was slow to embrace the protest movement–have not endeared her to members of the youth group coalition.

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Hillary Clinton "We're Working with Our Allies to Send Libya a Message" While Obama Wants Gaddafi to Punish Officials Responsible for Violence

The US Secretary of State says she's working to send Libya a message, or something like that is what I just read in Al Jazeera's Live Feed.

Send a message.

Right.

Send in the bombers to take out Gaddafi would be more like it.

Wall Street Journal reports a rather disjointed statement from the Obama administration (again):

WASHINGTON— The Obama administration, citing reports that hundreds of antigovernment protesters had been killed and injured in Libya, demanded Sunday that Col. Moammar Gadhafi's regime punish officials responsible for the violence.

So, Obama is demanding Gaddafi to punish officials responsible for the violence.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha....... It's actually very sad. Gaddafi and his sons do not hold any official government positions, by the way. So Obama is effectively saying to Gaddafi don't worry he is not responsible.

(Oh wait, it's almost the same as telling Ben Bernank to better regulate the TBTF Wall Street banks...)

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Dissent Is Not Allowed In the Presence of Queen Hillary

As Ray McGovern found out.

From Karen Kwiatkowski at LRC Blog, "Hillary Clinton versus Ray McGovern":

I suspect Ray is winning the war, but for the “crime” of standing up and silently turning his back on the Mistress of State as she was publicly lying about some thing or another, the 71-year-old retired CIA analyst and past briefer of US Presidents was violently taken to jail, and badly hurt by “security” at George Washington University in DC. As I read about what happened to the courageous and principled Ray McGovern, I was thinking of Gene Sharp’s words: “If people are not afraid of the dictatorship, that dictatorship is in big trouble.”

Here's the video of the incident. Hillary, by the way, was speaking about the importance of free speech in her typical monotony. Are we in 1984 or what?

At this point, people in Egypt may have more freedom of speech than us in the US.

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Crashes Reported in Iran Between Protesters and Security Forces, With US Secretary of State Egging the Protesters On

The protests in Egypt have largely failed to become "hot", although the Mubarak regime tried their best to make them that way. And there has been no "radical Islam" taking over the country.

So, TPTB (the powers that be) must create a "hot" "revolution" somehow. Why, you ask?

Why not? Just for fun, maybe? As a diversion from the mess (like insolvent states in the US)? Or Israel needs an enemy, perhaps.

From Al Jazeera [emphasis is mine]:

There are reports in social media sites and non-state Iranian news sites of clashes between protesters and security forces in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

Thousands of demonstrators were marching on Monday on Enghelab and Azadi streets [which connect and create a straight path through the city centre], with a heavy presence in Enghelab Square and Vali-Asr Street, according to these reports.

Several clashes have been reported on Twitter, the micro-blogging site, with claims of some demonstrators being teargassed and others beaten and arrested.

Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari, in Tehran, confirmed reports that security forces used tear gas, pepper spray and batons against the protesters.

She said up to 10,000 security forces had been deployed to prevent protesters from gathering at Azadi Square, where the marches, originating from various points in Tehran, were expected to converge.

...As night fell in Iran, the BBC reported that city lights were being turned off and that security forces were attacking protesters in the dark.

...Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, hailed the "courage" of the protesters, and pressed Tehran to follow Egypt's example and "open up" its political system.

Our correspondent in Tehran said that as far as Iran's leaders are concerned, Monday's protests "are not a reflection of what people actually want."

They believe these are small groups of individuals who have ulterior motives, they are a threat to national security and therefore the security forces are necessary to prevent them from becoming a threat inside the country," said Jabbari.

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Hillary Clinton to Pakistan: Raise Your Taxes, Otherwise We Won't Give You Flood Aid

Is it any wonder that anti-American sentiment is all-time high in Pakistan?

Antiwar.com's Jason Ditz reported on October 14, 2010 [emphasis is mine.]:

"Following up on last month’s demands that Pakistan agree to yet another massive tax increase on “wealthy landowners,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has stepped the issue up even more, threatening to withdraw all humanitarian aid from the nation unless they comply.

"Today it was even worse, as Clinton pressured the European Union to do the same. Between them, the US and EU have contributed more than half of the $1.5 billion in humanitarian aid for this year’s disastrous floods.

"“It is unacceptable,” according to Secretary Clinton, “for those with means in Pakistan not to be doing their fair share to help their own people.” While rich Pakistanis have contributed to relief efforts, they have balked at donating to the official government aid program, citing corruption.

"The floods killed thousands and left roughly a fifth of the nation under water, doing major damage to Pakistan at a time when a decade of US-led war along its border had already brought it to the brink of collapse. One would think this would be a poor time to raise taxes, but the Obama Administration has repeatedly demanded Pakistan do so, and despite Pakistan already issuing a number of tax increases over the past year, it seems it isn’t enough."

The world has been eerily silent on the floods in Pakistan, which by the way are still ongoing, as millions remain homeless and millions in dire needs of basic necessities to survive. And Clinton and her boss want to force Pakistan to raise taxes while US killer drones continue to bomb innocent civilians.

Makes sense, doesn't it? In this bizzarro world?

I wonder if Clinton and Obama demanded the same to Haiti for the earthquake relief... Did Bush demand New Orleans to raise taxes in exchange for a federal aid?

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Martha Does Hillary - State Department Makeover

your tax money at work.

State Department Spruces Up (Patrick Gavin, 11/24/09 Politico Click)

"The State Department is not exactly the most modern of buildings. So when it comes to sprucing things up, it probably needs some help.

"As a result, it has partnered with the magazine industry to help decorate 17 rooms for the holiday season. The rooms are in the State Department's Harry S. Truman Building and Blair House, both of which are located in Washington.

"The Magazine Holiday Design Showcase is "part of an ongoing campaign to highlight the furnishings and art in both the Blair House and the State Department," according to a release.

"Better Homes and Gardens will decorate the Blair House's front and back rooms and the garden. Martha Stewart Living will focus on Blair House's dining rooms, entryway and Lee Drawing Room. Mother Earth News turns its sights on Blair House's Jackson Place Sitting Room and Jackson Place Dining Room. Mother Earth News will team up with Natural Home to work on the State Department's Adams Room. This Old House will tend to the Lincoln Room and Truman Study at Blair House. Traditional Home has been assigned the Blair House's Lee Dining Room and Lee Entrance Room."

Maybe Hillary is absorbing the cost, just like the Obamas supposedly did for the White House decoration by the same decorator who picked $87,783 area rug for John Thain.

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Hillary Scolds Pakistan for Not Taxing Enough

... dead or alive, we tax, and that's the American way that Pakistan should follow.

State Secretary Hillary Clinton scolded the Pakistanis for not doing their part in hunting down the leadership of Al Qaeda. In her rather blunt message to Pakistan, she inadvertently revealed the reality of the U.S. tax system.

Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan: Hillary Clinton
(10/30/09 Daily Times)

After expressing her firm belief that Al Qaeda is in Pakistan and strongly insinuating that the Pakistani government is complicit in the affair, Secretary Clinton said the following:

"“Maybe that’s the case; maybe they’re not gettable. I don’t know... As far as we know, they are in Pakistan,” Clinton told senior Pakistani newspaper editors in Lahore, AFP reported. “The percentage of taxes on GDP (in Pakistan) is among the lowest in the world... We (the United States) tax everything that moves and doesn’t move, and that’s not what we see in Pakistan,” she said."

So, the reason why the Pakistani government is having a tough time hunting down Al Qaeda may be the lack of fund, as Pakistan's tax collection is low? And she sounds disappointed that Pakistan is not doing what the U.S. does - tax everything that moves and doesn't move.

Oh boy. (Maybe her meds are off again.)

Well, at least in the U.S., even people who don't move any more can vote, along with Mickey Mouse.

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