Tag: Syria

Kosovo or Kurdistan? The U.S. “Pivot to Asia” and the Geopolitics of “Rohingya-Land”

Posted on by Cynthia McKinney in Read What Cynthia Is WritingTagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Rohingya-Land?

ABSTRACT

Kosovars and Kurds represent two poles along the continuum of identity, nationalism, and self-determination as mediated by U.S. geostrategic goals. The Rohingya, most of whom are Muslim, like Kosovars and Kurds, have their identity intact. But, as a part of its “Pivot to Asia,” how might U.S. geostrategic goals in the region use the Rohingya nation while it struggles for recognition and self-determination? And what policies could the state of Bangladesh implement to blunt the effects of those goals? These are the questions this paper seeks to answer.

We begin with the one constant with which all countries big and small must contend: the foreign policy of the United States of America (U.S.). The world witnessed the U.S. create a state— as the Serbs would say, from the heart of Serbia—the Republic of Kosovo. Despite its characterization by some as a “narco-state” and its lack of universal international recognition, its biggest champion is the United States and that affords it positions in the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and a growing economy since its unilateral declaration of independence from pro-Russia Serbia in 2008.

The desire of the Kurds for statehood has not fared as well. Divided among Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, Kurdish goals for recognition and self-determination have been used by the U.S. to deadly effect. In its latest effort at regime change—in Syria—the U.S. dangled the prospect of the creation of Kurdistan and enlisted Kurdish help in the armed struggle against Syria’s President, Bashar Al-Assad—until U.S. regional priorities changed, leaving the well-armed, battle-tested Kurds with several difficult choices. Kurdistan remains a dream.

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Truth Foretold, Specious Journalism, And Spurious Assertions: The Case of Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg View, and The Charlotte Observer

Posted on by Cynthia McKinney in Press ReleasesTagged , , , , , , , , , ,

While it is true that I was “booted” by pro-war Democrats who worked in concert with like-minded Republicans, your assertion of my being booted for “peddling conspiracies” deserves a deeper look. My booting, by the way, resulted in the GOP takeover of my home State of Georgia, an outcome that seemingly makes both pro-war Democrats and Republicans (now called “globalists”) comfortable. Therefore, I want to take a deeper look at what I did “peddle:”

 

  1. That Presidential candidate George W. Bush worked with his Florida Governor brother, Jeb, to orchestrate election theft in the 2000 Presidential election. Now that the public has caught up with the facts that I put on the table in 2000 and 2001 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdPhXuTzQeI), this position is supported by evidence that is available to all;
  2. That President George W. Bush received warnings about an impending attack on the US (http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/cia-directors-documentary-911-bush-213353) and actively blocked an investigation (http://edition.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/inv.terror.probe/) into the September 11, 2001 attacks. Now that the public has caught up with the facts that I put on the table in 2001, this position is supported by evidence that is available to all;
  3. That the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund (https://www.vcf.gov/faq.html) was really set up to thwart 9/11 wrongful death lawsuits because it prevented victims’ survivors from getting justice in US Courts; I felt that victims and victims’ survivors should be able to sue the culprits as well as receive support from the Fund. The President recently vetoed legislation that would allow lawsuits to move forward against Saudi Arabia and Congress just overrode his veto. Fourteen years later, I am pleased that, once again, my position has been supported by evidence that has been clearly available to all for at least a decade;
  4. That the US was not justified in attacking Iraq in 2003. The most thorough investigation into the 2003 decision to go to war against Iraq is the Chilcot Report (http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/the-report/) which found that war was not the last option and that U.S. allegations of Saddam Hussein possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq were not justified. Now that the public has caught up with the facts that I put on the table in 2002, this position is supported by evidence that is available to all;
  5. That the then-Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, failed to perform his job during Hurricane Katrina and that thousands needlessly died because he failed the Gulf States and the country. After joining with Republicans and writing a Congressional Report on the subject that is available to the public (www.nola.com/katrina/pdf/mainreport.pdf), my position is supported by evidence that is available to all;
  6. That a specific allegation had been made to my Congressional Office that thousands of bodies had been dumped in Louisiana swamps after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Now, we know that 9/11 human remains were dumped in a landfill (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/us/panel-recommends-more-oversight-and-training-at-dover-mortuary.html?_r=0) with such action having been deemed “dereliction of duty,” so who has conducted an independent investigation into what happened in Louisiana, in particular, with respect to body disposal?
  7. That racism exists in Capitol Hill Police Department similar to what exists in other police departments around the U.S. and that I was a victim of that discrimination after I supported a lawsuit filed by Black police officers after one of their superior officers used the word “nigger.” Black police officers have been waiting fifteen years for justice and recently held a demonstration in support of their claim (http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/former-capitol-police-call-attention-discrimination-lawsuits). One need only hear the moving testimony of the U.S. Senate’s lone Black GOP Member and his interactions with the Capitol Hill Police (http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/floor-speeches/tim-scott-black-republican-emotional-powerful-dramatic-race-speech-targeted-capitol-police) to understand that my experience was surely possible. Now, again—after the fact— that the public has caught up with the evidence that I put on the table in 2006, my position is supported by evidence that is available to all, sadly now most of all, the family of Keith Lamont Scott and all of those young people who were just recently in Charlotte’s streets.

 

If only the press had decided to investigate my assertions rather than castigate me for making them! Maybe things would be far different than they are today in Iraq, Libya, Louisiana, and elsewhere. But, instead of investigation of the inconvenient or unpleasant facts that I repeatedly put on the table, the response was a frenzy of specious journalism and spurious assertions where true journalism was needed. Your column, with mention of my name, is an example of that. Such “reporting” is precisely why Trump’s attacks on the media resonate so well with the American and global public. The polling data on the public perception of the U.S. media is a damning indictment of the role the media has played in this country for too many years. That is why the U.S. public more and more now seeks its information from foreign media outlets, the internet, “alternative” media, and less and less from “newspapers” like yours.

 

Cynthia McKinney, Ph.D.