SPEAKING OF CHANGE

"I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed."
~ George Carlin.

Speaking of change, here's what might be required as a basis of convincing the world that change has really arrived:

The USA has a history of crimes, but also of positive change. It has the potential for changing the world, both for the worse or for the better. One of the greatest achievements of the American people, if not the greatest, has been the abolition of slavery. This liberated the black people and gave hope for millions of others under oppression. One wonders if there will be real change with the new American administration, with President Obama. The USA has still the power and the potential to abolish slavery in the Middle East.

However, any real change must address the injustice camouflaged under the name “US foreign policy”. The policy of change needs to be concrete and clear. It must end the support for despotic and fascist regimes, even if they are "US allies" or NATO members. The USA must abolish its system of client states, which is a modern and global form of slavery. It must not accept and allow pseudo democracies and racist regimes to continue committing crimes against humanity. It must stop applying the term “terrorism” to liberation movements of indigenous peoples; but instead openly support their rights, including the right for self-determination.

Cooperation with puppet regimes and parasitical elites that prevent progress, freedom and democracy in the region must end. In a new US foreign policy, trust and friendship with other nations should come before profits. A new strategy must be developed that does not divide the world into spheres of influence and leads to more wars for territory or resources. In that new strategy, principles of justice should dominate rather than military power.

One of the main obstacles for global justice and peace has historically been the fight for resources between groups or states. It is high time that the raw materials and energy sources of the world should belong to everyone instead of being in the hands of a few or prey to corporate competitors. A new American policy should lead to an international agreement that will manage our depleting resources in the name of and for the benefit of mankind alone.

The first test of change may be coming up soon:

Amidst reports that Turkey has been negotiating with Russia for the purchase of around 32 Mi-28 attack helicopters as a stop-gap measure to meet its urgent needs in the fight against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Pentagon has developed a formula that will allow it to sell four or five Cobra attack helicopters to Ankara.

Under this new formula, the US-based Bell Helicopter firm will interrupt the Cobra production currently under way for the US Marine Corps and instead use the production line to manufacture helicopters for Turkey, according to well-informed Turkish defense industry sources in Ankara.

Top Pentagon officials will submit this plan for approval by the new administration under Barack Obama, who took office yesterday as the 44th US president, Today’s Zaman has learned.

The US had turned down a Turkish request made early last year for the purchase of AH-1W “Whiskey” Super Cobra attack helicopters as a stop-gap measure for the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), which has a shortage of Cobras in its inventory. The US had cited the unavailability of Cobras and offered instead Boeing-made Apache attack helicopters, which were turned down by Ankara.

Turkey has six AH-1W Super Cobra attack helicopters ready for combat from its original 12, while the remaining six either crashed or are no longer in service.

Yeah, six Cobras "crashed or are no longer in service",but there's no mention of why they "crashed or "are no longer in service". I can give you the answer in one short abbreviation: PKK.

There's something else here, too, from the I-Told-You-So Department:

Turkey expects its relations with Israel, which strained due to the Gaza operations, will return to its normal course shortly as Ankara continues to play an active role in the Middle East. The Turkish president could soon pay a visit to Israel.

. . . Turkey had considered cutting diplomatic relations with Israel and suspending a defense deal. Still it is very unlikely Turkey will take any of these steps.

. . . Turkish President Abdullah Gul may pay a visit to Israel in the near term.

The Turkish foreign ministry says [i.e. claims] it has made a major contribution to the peace process and will continue its pro-active foreign policy strategy. Therefore relations with Israel are expected to normalize in the short term.

And one other, from the same Department:

Diplomatic sources denied and slammed reports that the political spat between Israel and Turkey has been deepening despite the ceasefire in Gaza.

An Israeli newspaper reported on Tuesday that a request by the Turkish prime minister's special representatives to meet the head of the political-security bureau at the Israeli Defense Ministry, Amos Gilad, was rejected and that Egypt also refused to have Turkey present during the ceasefire talks with Hamas.

Turkey played an active role, led by the prime minister's special representative, Ahmet Davutoglu, during the crisis that erupted after Israel's aggression against Gaza that has left more than 1,100 dead, mostly civilians.

"The story in the Israeli newspaper is incorrect and it is a mistake. A meeting was scheduled with the Israeli officials to discuss the course of the ceasefire process. But the meeting could not be held due to a lack of time and the Israeli official apologized for the situation," a source said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Davutoglu had said that Turkey convinced Hamas to agree to a ceasefire during Turkish officials’ shuttle diplomacy. The Turkish diplomats held talks with Hamas officials in Cairo and with the group’s exiled leader in Syria.

And a former JITEM dirtbag gets his due:

An alleged member of JİTEM, a clandestine and illegal gendarmerie intelligence unit whose existence has thus far been officially denied, was found dead yesterday afternoon in his Ankara home.

Maj. Abdülkerim Kırca, believed to be a higher up in JİTEM, had replaced Maj. Cem Ersever, a former major who left the army after Gendarmerie Commander Gen. Eşref Bitlis was killed in a suspicious plane crash. Ersever, in a confession made to the press after he left the army in 1993, provided accounts of JİTEM activities. Ersever's confessions were later compiled in a number of books by author Soner Yalçın. Before his assassination, the major also said he was in charge of JİTEM's operations in the Southeast.

Ersever's body was found in Ankara on Nov. 4, 1993. His girlfriend and right-hand man were also killed, and his archive disappeared.

Numerous allegations from families of the victims of hundreds of unresolved murders accused Kırca of being behind most of the murders committed in Turkey's East and Southeast in the '90s. An upsurge in the number of unresolved deaths in the region does coincide with the term he served in the region.

[ . . . ]

In a report prepared by the Prime Ministry on the 1996 Susurluk affair, Kutlu Savaş, the author of the report, had referred to Kırca as the "planner and executor" of most of the incidents.

The paşas claim it was suicide. Oh, right, I know I believe them. It's ridiculous, naturally, especially since, in Turkey, particularly in The Southeast, women are more likely to "commit suicide". But you know that if the paşas stick their big, fat noses in it, it's going to be hilarious, and it is:

The Turkish army slammed some media organs, saying their coverage relating to former military officers violates basic human rights, and urged them to act responsibly.

BOO-HOO-HOOOO!

Violates basic human rights?!! That's rich! Notice how the issue of basic human rights only applies to TSK. My only complaint is that PKK only managed to put Kırca in a wheelchair and not in his grave, and may this son-of-a-bitch burn in hell.

There, I hope I've sufficiently violated his "basic human rights".