.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Born at the Crest of the Empire

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Quickhits

Alot of little interesting items,

The Iraqis finally came to an agreement on their government. The politicians sequestered in the Green Zone have all agreed, we'll have to wait and see what the rest of the Iraqis out in the "red zone" make of the deal.

This article over at antiwar has about the most complete listing and details of likely permanent US bases in Iraq that I've seen.

The Army suicide rate is up again. I don't have enough of a sense of the data to say if this is significant, but it is noteworthy.

You may have seen this, but during President Bush's trip to California, protesters managed to block the President's passage, forcing him to move the meeting he had scheduled at Stanford.

Russia and Iran have reportedly come to an agreement on enriching uranium in Russia for Iranian reactors. My question on this is how they then transport it back to Iran. None of the routes look particularly secure to me.

And, lastly, Nigeria is buying itself out of its Paris Club debt. This is significant because it reflects a growing trend. For generations, the US has controlled second world nations through incredible amounts of debt, forcing privatization and other neoliberal economic policies. Argentina bought its freedom after the IMF collapsed their economy, and Russia bought it's freedom a couple of years ago.

7 Comments:

  • As to the Armed forces suicide rate. It's far lower than the general population, and many are attributed to things like a spouse leaving them or some such domestic matter. A study conducted by the Army determined that combat related suicides were actually low. I tend to believe the findings.

    By Blogger Yukkione, at 7:09 PM  

  • I generally feel the same. Thank you.

    In the cold world of statistics a two per 100,000 rate is not substantial.

    After thinking about it awhile, I probably shouldn't have put it up. My only excuse is that I was in a hurry.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 8:44 PM  

  • Thats curious because last week I was reading the opposite with respect to Vets particularly from Vietnam. Strange the way statistics seem to be in the eye of the reporter!

    The explanations given were PTSD, economic hardships, intimacy and attachment disorders, etc.

    Perhaps the numbers now are improving since many of them are no doubt gone by now and we are not yet sure of the impact for other vet groups? I would like to know the truth about which is correct, in either case. Lily

    By Blogger Lily, at 8:57 PM  

  • Lily,

    They're both probably right. This article is only about active duty Army, and I would think that a significant percentage of Vietnam vets are not still listed as active duty.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 10:01 PM  

  • Re: Russia/Iran Uranium enrichment...

    They apparently have a "basic" agreement. Haven't we been here before? I think the Iranian regime falls somewhere between Bush and Kim Jong-il on the political reality scale.

    The agreement is probably as vaporous as a Middle East peace agreement...

    By Blogger -epm, at 8:14 AM  

  • I would generally agree, but with the Russians now acting as the main block to sanctions/bombings, they may have developed some leverage to force the Iranians to stick to it.

    For the Russians, this is a major business deal. They are selling nuke plants, parts, etc worth billions, plus they are the Iranians main source for weapons.

    So, they need each other, so, at least for the short term, I think it will stick if the Iranians are allowed small scale "research" enrichment. Because they want to keep developing the tech.

    Mike

    By Blogger mikevotes, at 1:54 PM  

  • Mike,

    Good points, all. This really is different than a traditional Middle East agreement. The Russians and Iranians are more partners than Israel and Palestine will ever be... or will ever be in the far foreseeable future, at least

    By Blogger -epm, at 9:31 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home