Bolivarians would do well to pay attention to the Iraq senerio.
Though they might have to fight for twenty years--as long as the nationalist forces have the the search for 'justice' on their side, they will not loose. However, hundreds of thousands will likely die as with Viet Nam.
A million 'brown people' dead is nothing for the people that support US imperial control of the globe.
But they are hypocrites and liars.
Again, Venezuela should be preparing itself for a prolonged struggle for liberation.
After all--it's the oil stupid. All the rhetorical homage paid to 'democracy', freedom, yada, yada; this is just the hypocritical pretexts that the thugs use to invade and develop a permanent presence in the country.
These imperialists wrote the book on terror--the task for anti-imperialists is to read between the lines and find the huge weaknesses in the fascist logic of empire.
They are on top of the situation. They are setting up a 500,000 person militia and have been studying asymetrical warfare. Venezuela won't get caught with its pants down on this. Actually, I think it was the U.S. that caught with its pants down in Iraq?
Sandy, it's one thing to 'talk' about a huge civilian/military militia--developing such a force is a huge magnitude of difference, a huge logistical mountain that must be climbed.
Lucky for the Bolivarian gov. that the neocons have bogged the US military down in Iraq for the time being. But now is the time to actually develop this militia.
"If you don't think it can happen, think again, my son. Be prepared for the worst, as yet to come"
---Dead Prez
Jim:
Most of that gets developed as the war goes along. The Iraqi insurgents didn't do much in the beginning either. But they have gotten better as time goes by. Same for the muj in Afghanistan against the Russias. You only learn this by doing.
Plus, look at the topography of Venezuela. Not a place a conventional army wants to fight.
Saddam was planning for an ocupational hell since the very first drums were heard, among other things he let go of all criminals in prison, and that was almost a year before the war.
I prefer to look at it as mostly deterrant rather than an actual fighting force, since the morale needed to resistwould be conisderable, plus we can't expect Bush or de succesor to commit the same stupidities they did in Iraq.
The US public is tired of war, I would love to see Bush try to sell another war against a similarly prepared foe, not to mention the terrain, and that a draft would be needed.
Flanker, I don't agree. I don't think the Iraqi resistance has much to do with Sadam. The people who fought for Sadam were those who fought at the beginning of the war and they just collapsed. The current resistence didn't really develope for months after the US occupation. And all of the insurgents that I have seen interviewed in the media express their hatred for Sadam and the old government. I think most of them are Islamicists who don't like "crusaders" in their country along with some nationalists. The idea that the resistence is "Ba'athist" is just US propoganda to try to discredit it.
Yes, the US can't go after Venezuela now because they are tied down. But you can never rule anything out.
I would like to see them try to fight their way up to Caracas after the bridges on the Guira highway get blown. Or better yet fight house by house through the cerros. As long as the Venezuelan people fight I don't think the U.S. could ever subdue it militarily. Venezuela is the ultimate guerilla terrain - big cities, mountains, jungles, etc.
Indeed, Sandy.
FLanker, never underestimate the mass stupidity of a 'bewildered herd'--the US public can be played like a 'fiddle' when the elites need the population to back-up imperialist stupidity, greed, and mendacity. They have proven themselves for decades.
Sure, the project is not as easy as it seems--they would much prefer assasination, tumult, and a domestic Venezuelan/Latin American rightwing military solution. Look no further than Haiti to see how the game is played: an overthrow of democracy and the associated purge of members of the country's largest political party, Lavalas, is shown in the media (and internalized by 'intellectuals') as 'bringing' democracy/stability to Haiti.
This is no small achievment, and it takes considerable discipline among the 'educated' middle and upper classes not to see the obvious duplicity and outright police-state oppression.
If you comfort yourself that the US 'will not' invade--you are a fool.
The US empire is a wounded beast, a rabid hyena: it will thrash about and do much damage before it is slain for the good of humanity.
Oil Wars
Great post. I had never thought of it this way but I think you really hit the nail on the head here.
I found your blog from American Leftist who recommended it. I never really knew that much about Venezuela before but your blog is very informative. Thanks and keep it up. All of definitely need to pay attention to what is going on there.
"FLanker, never underestimate the mass stupidity of a 'bewildered herd'--the US public can be played like a 'fiddle' when the elites need the population to back-up imperialist stupidity, greed, and mendacity. They have proven themselves for decades."
Jim, Lets not take things too far. Sure the American people can get played - as can anyone. The Venezuelan people got played by AD and Copei for a long time didn't they? But they were woken up by reality. And the Americans got woken up by reality in Vietnam. From what I'm hearing it sounds like they are starting to wake up about Iraq too.
Its not that people are "stupid". Its that most people aren't that political. They just want to live their lives and they tend to trust poeple in authority positions and the media. But once reality smacks them in the face they wake up. And once woken up, as in Venezuela, they don't easily go back to sleep 
Sandy, well, after Viet Nam what is the excuse for the credulous population?
I don't buy it--ignorance in many cases has a willful component to the phenomena. There were high school kids who knew that Bush et al were manufacturing pretexts to go to war. I don't let broad swaths of the population off the hook--the maimed people of Iraq don't, and I won't.
Indeed, 'stupidity' connotes a level of innocence that I did not intend. Willful igorance is more apt.
Most people in the US know that the people in 'authority' are corporate hacks for whom lying is as natural as farting, but with far more noxious results.
That said, much of the quietude of the US public is centered in most people being mired within some type of power hierarchy where having a dissident opinion could mean that they loose their career, their insurance, etc.
I am not saying that the US public are any worse than the rest of the human population--they have just been fattened up to the point of being mentally lazy and unnecessarily forgetful.
Jim:
Speaking of reactionaries did you catch the idea the right wing scumbag Max Boot came up with:
http://www.latimes.com/news/opin...omment-
opinions
Defend America, Become American
Max Boot
The Army is getting desperate. Having fallen 25% short of already reduced recruiting goals last month, it is raising enlistment bonuses to $40,000 in some cases and lowering standards to accept and retain soldiers who would have been turned away in years past. A minor criminal record? No high school diploma? Uncle Sam still wants you.
Down this way disaster lies — the undoing of the finest armed forces in U.S. history. But what choice is there? With combat dragging on in Iraq and plenty of jobs available at home, there aren't enough volunteers. So far, a real crisis has been averted only because the Army has exceeded its retention goals and kept some troops in uniform past their discharge dates, but it will only get tougher to keep volunteers in uniform if troops are constantly deployed overseas.
There are two obvious, and obviously wrongheaded, solutions to this problem: Pull out of Iraq now or institute a draft. The former would hand a victory to terrorists and undo everything that more than 1,700 Americans have given their lives to achieve. The latter option, aside from being a political non-starter, would also dilute the high quality of the all-volunteer force.
Having reviewed all the other possibilities and found them wanting, I return to the solution I proposed on this page in February: Broaden the recruiting base beyond U.S. citizens and permanent, legal residents. Legislation has been drafted to make a modest start in that direction.
The proposed Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act is targeted at children of undocumented immigrants residing in the U.S. for more than five years but not born here. They would get legal status and become eligible for citizenship if they graduate from high school, stay out of trouble and either attend college for two years or serve two years in the armed forces. This bill, introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), drew 48 cosponsors in the Senate last year but failed to get a floor vote. It is likely to be reintroduced soon.
The DREAM Act is a great idea, but I would go further and offer citizenship to anyone, anywhere on the planet, willing to serve a set term in the U.S. military. We could model a Freedom Legion after the French Foreign Legion. Or we could allow foreigners to join regular units after a period of English-language instruction, if necessary.
When I first made this suggestion, I got a lot of positive responses but also some scathing critiques. A retired Army sergeant in Houston wrote (expletives deleted): "Are you out of your mind? The last thing we need in our military is a bunch of illegal immigrants serving in combat operations for a country to which they are not culturally bonded!" But there is no better way to build that bond than through military training and discipline. Drill sergeants have been forging cohesive units out of disparate elements since the days of the Roman legions.
In the past, the U.S. military had many more foreigners than we do today. (During the Civil War, at least 20% were immigrants. Now it's 7%.) The British army, among many others, has also made good use of noncitizens. Nepalese Gurkhas still fight and die for the Union Jack despite not being "culturally bonded" to it. No doubt they would do the same for the Stars and Stripes.
Some letter writers invoke the specter of mercenaries leading to the fall of the U.S. as they supposedly led to the fall of Rome. That's a misreading of Roman history. As classicist Victor Davis Hanson points out, by the 1st century AD, the legions "were mostly non-Italian and mercenary, and the empire still endured for nearly another 500 years." If only the Pax Americana were to last half as long!
Other critics think it's repugnant to ask foreigners to face dangers that citizens won't. But there is always an element of unfairness in war. Unless you institute a truly universal draft (we've never done it), some will always be more at risk than others.
Besides, the U.S. already makes ample use of mercenaries. We rely on tens of thousands of contractors in Iraq, Colombia and elsewhere, many of them not Americans. They would be a lot more useful if they were in uniform and subject to military orders so that we could avoid mix-ups like the one that just happened in Iraq, where Marines detained 19 employees of an American engineering firm for allegedly firing on them.
Would foreigners sign up to fight for Uncle Sam? I don't see why not, because so many people are desperate to move here. Serving a few years in the military would seem a small price to pay, and it would establish beyond a doubt that they are the kind of motivated, hardworking immigrants we want.
Anyway, what's the alternative? $100,000 signing bonuses? Recruiting felons?
Whats interesting is I'm pretty sure Max Boot is young enough that he could join the army and fight in Iraq now that the Army raised its age limit to 39. But of course, I'm sure he considers himself to important to potentially get killed there. These chickenhawks are such swine, aren't they!
What a freak OW (O'Dubbya),
Instead of the name "Max Boot" he is much more of the Jack variety.
Jim:
So I don't get it, is your point that American's, or even all people, are just inherintly reactionary? I don't think that is the case at all. Your average human being just wants to live their live and doesn't pay much attention to politics at all.
"That said, much of the quietude of the US public is centered in most people being mired within some type of power hierarchy where having a dissident opinion could mean that they loose their career, their insurance, etc."
I think you are talking here about middle class or even upper class people here. Your average person is definitely not hiding opinions to protect "status" or a special job because they don't have either. I think you're looking at this from a very distorted perspective.
Sandy, this is not the place to debate world-views. Suffice it to say that the nature of ideology implies distortion, to some extent, for everyone under its thrall.
The topic of 'reality' vrs. 'appearance' is a neverending interpretive loop.
About polictics, we are all aware of politics in myriad levels of our lives. Politics, per se, cannot be extrapolated and put into a box outside of everyday, quotidian living of life.
If you would like to debate points of contention, I would ask to to contact OW. He (she, it...) will give you my email address.
Amidst all that you write, here in the home front there is another battle being waged: The war on patriotism as demonstrated by the number of multi colored magnetic ribbons afixed to the rear and sides of the urban warriors SUV's. Can someone explain to me the purpose for a camouflage magnetic ribbon? I dont get it. It used to be these things were yellow and made to be conspicuous. Now in the event your SUV is cought in the urban jungle, your admiration for death wont compromise your position due to your metallic ribbon mixing with the natural flora.
"Tie a yellow ribbon around the ol' oak tree" my ass - this is war OW! and nothing says support like camouflage magnetic ribbons placed on either side of the glimmering "truth" fish.
WWJD?
Comandante P.--what I really think are cool are the 'pink' ribbons. Yes, they are pink. I guess they are intended to show your support for gay folk, in the closet, doing their duty-thing (ie, becoming fodder for the US imperial oligarchy--the tiny minority whose own children are safely ensconched in private schools somewhere.)
I say let's send the Venezuelan vendepatrias off to Iraq to show their loyalty to Unc Sammie.
Jim R. You bastard!! You've totally pre-empted my next post. Thanks a lot pal 
Jim. Its ok I think I understand where you're coming from even if I don't completely agree.
Pulpo. yes the last time I was back home I saw those stupid ribbons are quite popular. I don't get it. Do people really think they are helping the U.S. war effort with those things. Unreal.
Molly22 - I never really knew that much about Venezuela before but your blog is very informative. Thanks and keep it up. All of definitely need to pay attention to what is going on there. -
Molly - Harlan Ellison once stated "Everyone is entitled to an informed opinion". Take the view presented to you by the anonymous blogger at face value, but accept the responsibility of finding out more about this nation, its history, and its people.
Lots of foreigners fell in love with Venezuela before the Internet, and well before it became a proxy theater for political experimentation and ideological battles.
If all you want is to be yet another Sandalista of the Billy Bragg and Alez Cox school---find fresher fields than Venezuela.
Like:"Gideon Gono in a televised speech on Friday night.. “In order to ensure maximum productivity levels, there is great scope in the country for promoting and supporting joint ventures between the new farmers with progressive-minded former operators,” said Gono in the three-hour broadcast, during which he announced a 31% devaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar. He added that skilled whites and other new investors would be given guarantees of uninterrupted tenure of five to 10 years, backed by government force to prevent any disruption on the farms. ..after a five-year campaign to take their land that has seen 15 farmers killed and thousands of farm workers beaten and evicted. Far from being distributed among landless peasants, many of the farms have ended up in the hands of Mugabe’s relatives and cronies."
See? They WANT progressives to move to Zimbabwe and toil the land!
Here's a golden opportunity for you,
"ow", Jim R, Flanker, El Pulpo, elliv,Sandy to walk the walk and make a REAL difference.
All those millions Zimbabweans who've had their shacks demolished and have been herded to camps? Hey, there's your progressive labor force.
New trough, piglets.
Kilo:
We are already walking the walk as is evident by your posting responses to our claims. Get the with the program Kilo - this is the technological age we can help many simply by distributing information from afar. Remember the Zapatero movement in Chiapas - see info tech at work. Your problem is that you are stuck in ina a conservative, non tech, cold war, frame of mind and cant fathom the reality and effectiveness with which you are dealing with. So the sandals that most speak of are now comprised of bits and bytes in a realm of matrices that turn everything into ones and zeros.
Along the same vein - why arent you in Iraq? Why arent you walking you walk? Nooo much like you blame us, you too sit in your barcalounger spewing verbal diarrhea to whoever will listen. Where is your get up and go soldier?
Oink oink said the piglet - You may now remove my virtual sandal from your virtual cornhole.
Alas, El Pulpo, the Zimbabweans can't eat binary code as yet. Perhaps the day will come when you and Reichmaster Mugabe - hoisting Simon Bolivar's sword- can hook up the poor and the dissident up to the Matrix -maybe Cornel Wilde can join in!
Till that day, all you have to offer is pseudosophistry and vaporware.
Using an Internet built by " non-tech cold warriors".
Recommended reading:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obido...514331?
v=glance
" More pertinent is Frankfurt's focus on intentions--the practice of bullshit, rather than its end result. Bullshitting, as he notes, is not exactly lying, and bullshit remains bullshit whether it's true or false. The difference lies in the bullshitter's complete disregard for whether what he's saying corresponds to facts in the physical world: he "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are."
This may sound all too familiar to those of use who still live in the "reality-based community" and must deal with a world convulsed by those who do not. But Frankfurt leaves such political implications to his readers. Instead, he points to one source of bullshit's unprecedented expansion in recent years, the postmodern skepticism of objective truth in favor of sincerity, or as he defines it, staying true to subjective experience.
All you have to offer, sir, is bullshit.
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