Went for a walk with Malu along the shore right across the street from Humphrey’s, the bayside venue here. We saw pelicans and then further up a woman in a Winnebago with her pet pig and small fluffy dog. The pig, named, Lucy, was happily moving along the grass on this little shorefront park, snorting and sometimes rooting in the grass with her snout. “Don’t do that, Lucy! You did that at the other part of the park!” Lucy was friendly; she didn’t mind being petted, though pig bristles are not soft and friendly. The woman said she has to give Lucy mud baths or Lucy will have problems, as pigs don’t perspire.
After our show the Extra Action crew have another gig, at a local punk club called the Casbah. A few of our bunch partake, and it sounded from their tales the next morning like a wonderful, messy continuation of the show.
The L.A. Times contained an article on the complete and utter failure of the so-called Drug War. This is based on a UN report, which the Bushies will no doubt deny, and they will no doubt provide their own evidence to support continued and increased funding of a “war” which has achieved none of its ends.
Maybe the solution lies in jobs for North Americans combined with supporting small-scale agriculture in Latin America — giving the farmers an economic incentive and choice.
A NY Times article on Italy charging CIA agents with abducting one of their citizens details the different approaches to combating terror between the U.S. and Italy. The U.S. abducts suspects, then tortures and interrogates them. Which, as is universally known, does not provide accurate or useful information — a detainee under coercion will pretty much say anything to survive. The value of the intelligence is very low. (But maybe the satisfaction of abuse makes up for it?)
The Italians, long practiced at secretly amassing information in order to build cases against Mafia suspects, use a different process — slow and tedious infiltration and research, which results in extensive knowledge of a whole network, some of which, like the mob, extend into a multitude of areas and nations. Thus the whole house of cards can be successfully brought down, through the legal process. It’s slower and more complicated, but it actually stops the whole network, or one whole branch of it at least.
The U.S. method seems instead to be about power, revenge, and show of force — and is largely ineffective. In fact, I suspect it actually does more to recruit, create and strengthen the terrorist networks than it does to bring them out in the open. The U.S. war on terror makes more terrorists. Perfect, their work will never be done. Halliburton and others will always have jobs. Endless war. A population constantly in fear. An eternal enemy. The renditions, the torture, the disregard for human rights — have become worldwide hallmarks of U.S. policy. The world knows these U.S. methods and doesn’t believe the claims of installing democracy or even of eliminating terrorism anymore. The ends don’t justify the brutal means. Though they might be seen to do so, if the ends were actually achieved. In most cases, sadly, they are not. Instead there is a wake of carnage.
I believe it is indeed possible to wage a sort of “war” on terrorism. But the Bush administration is hopelessly inept, and is going about it in exactly the wrong way. Bush could never run any of the companies he was handed on a silver tray, except into the ground, so it’s no surprise he can’t run a war either.
