Sep 29 2007
Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to
By Anwaar Hussain
9/29/07
If wishes were horses, most Americans would have known that Iraq and Afghanistan are just the latest victims of the colonial behemoth in a continued saga of American imperialism and not any thing else. That throughout its imperialistic expedition, Americans have firmly believed that the United States was God’s chosen nation and, therefore, on course to divine destinies. They would have known Senator Albert J. Beveridge’s speech to Congress that exemplifies this American attitude as nothing else does, “…and thanksgiving to Almighty God that He has marked us as His chosen people, henceforth to lead in the regeneration of the world…” If wishes were horses.
If wishes were horses, most Americans would have known that, consequent to this belief of American leaders, the U.S. had, even before the deployment of troops for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, around 752 military installations located in more than 130 countries with actual American military contingents stationed in 65 different foreign countries. They would have known that like all occupying powers, Americans have around 70,000 U.S. troops in Germany, 40,000 in Japan and about 37,000 in South Korea, where they have been since 1951. Add to it now around 140,000 troops (not counting the 100,000 Blackwater type mercenaries) in Iraq and another 27,000 in Afghanistan and one gets a fair inkling of American’s idea of ‘regeneration of the world’ the American way. If wishes were horses.
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Sep 28 2007
Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to
“One of those biases is Burman’s curious view that the US has only been empirically aggressive under Bush, even with maps of American interventions abroad showing interventions ‘to prevent the spread of communism.’”
Jim Miles Reviews “The State of the American Empire – How the USA Shapes the World” by Stephen Burman
9/28/07
On first perusal my perceptions told me this was my kind of book: lots of graphs, charts, and maps for my visual learning strengths, more akin to the National Geographic where I can glean most of the significant information from the photos and captions as much as I can from the text. But then as I delved into the text that introduces and accompanies the visuals, I realized that this was a bit more than just an atlas – it also made political statements through choice of words and topics.
Unfortunately, that position wavered in front of me, at one time apparently saying this, at another time apparently saying that. The State of the American Empire has a slippery and elusive perspective, but one that finally settles down into a relatively clear theme, perhaps the slippery metaphor being appropriate for American ‘idealism’ as it stands today. Ultimately, the underlying theme to the book, even though it brings forth some very strong criticisms of American actions, is that we, the royal ‘we’, the global ‘we’, need the empire for stability that will bring about the security we need for our energy demands, for our currency markets, for our trade relations.
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Sep 28 2007
Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to
Leaders like Ahmedinejad and Chavez, who refuse to submit to US military and economic subjugation, are assaulted with vicious character assasination and hyperbolic vilification by the Empire’s well-funded media whores, reactionary academics, and Right Wing “think tanks,” often enabling CIA-sponsored “regime changes” or wars of aggression against their nations.
By Steven Jonas
9/28/07
Originally published at Buzz Flash
So Pres. Ahmedinejad of Iran comes to the U.S. And boy, is the U.S. Right hot and bothered about his visit and what he wants to do here (inside the 25-mile radius from the UN within which foreign dignitaries on the Administration’s s__t list must stay). First, he wants to visit the site of 9/11. Apparently forgetting that Iran delivered an outpouring of sympathy when the horror occurred, that Iran, a Shiite country, despises the Sunni bin Laden (and he doesn’t like them much either), that Iran provided material aid to the original U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and still doesn’t like the Taliban and certainly doesn’t like the fact that under yet another Georgite-mismanaged war they have made a strong comeback, the U.S. Right launched a general “how dare he?” That of course fits right in with the current campaign to drum up Islamophobia using any convenient Muslim target regardless of politics (except, of course, the Bush-partners Saudis).
So then he gets this invitation to speak at Columbia University and all hell breaks loose, on the Right. But given what actually happened there, one has to wonder why the Right is so upset. After all, this man is so much like Bush, they could almost be twins. So the Right shouldn’t be angered. They should be pleased that at least one other world leader, for the most part, is following the example of their man in particular or at least that of his core supporters in general. Hey, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, ain’t it? Let’s count the ways.
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Sep 27 2007
Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to
Perhaps most interesting is the language used to describe the Africa being saved. For example, the Keep a Child Alive/” I am African” ad campaign features portraits of primarily white, Western celebrities with painted “tribal markings” on their faces above “I AM AFRICAN” in bold letters. Below, smaller print says, “help us stop the dying….” Such campaigns, however well intentioned, promote the stereotype of Africa as a black hole of disease and death.
By Uzodinma Iweala
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Originally published in the Washington Post
Last fall, shortly after I returned from Nigeria, I was accosted by a perky blond college student whose blue eyes seemed to match the “African” beads around her wrists.
“Save Darfur!” she shouted from behind a table covered with pamphlets urging students to TAKE ACTION NOW! STOP GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!
My aversion to college kids jumping onto fashionable social causes nearly caused me to walk on, but her next shout stopped me.
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