Dictator Watch - March 2013

It's been a long time since three's been a Dictator Watch post on Nonsensible Shoes and a lot has happened on that front since the last one.  Too much in fact, since time restrictions require that I combine the Dictator Watch with the Two word opinion format.

Hugo Chavez - Dead. Definite zombie.

Kim Jong Un - Insane and preparing for an offensive war against America. Not happening.

Mahmud Ahmedinejad - insane and proving it.  See above.

Vladimir Putin - investing in Syria just because he can. Prevent defense.

Canada Continues To Stand Tall

Ronn Torossian writes on Right Wing News,

Today, Canada announced that it is closing its embassy in Iran and would be expelling Iranian diplomats from Canada. As Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said “Canada has closed its embassy in Iran, effective immediately, and declared personae non gratae all remaining Iranian diplomats in Canada. Canada’s position on the regime in Iran is well known. Canada views the Government of Iran as the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today,” said Baird.

“The Iranian regime is providing increasing military assistance to the Assad regime; it refuses to comply with UN resolutions pertaining to its nuclear program; it routinely threatens the existence of Israel and engages in racist anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide; it is among the world’s worst violators of human rights; and it shelters and materially supports terrorist groups, requiring the Government of Canada to formally list Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act. Moreover, the Iranian regime has shown blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention and its guarantee of protection for diplomatic personnel. Under the circumstances, Canada can no longer maintain a diplomatic presence in Iran. Our diplomats serve Canada as civilians, and their safety is our number one priority. Diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran have been suspended. All Canadian diplomatic staff have left Iran, and Iranian diplomats in Ottawa have been instructed to leave within five days.”

Memo to BHO - take a hint.

Canada has been standing up to Iran since the conservatives were a minority government.  They were the first to walk out on Ahmedinejad's racist rant at the U.N. a few years back.

Canada is no military powerhouse, but they do stand up for right, now that they have a conservative government.

Thoughts on Canada Quitting Kyoto

Canada: still loving right.

I'm a little late on commenting on this one considering I'm Canadian and a number of sites and blogs already touched on the subject of Canada being the first country to opt out of the Kyoto accord, to the dismay of China and India (who never even signed on).  Being somewhat late to the game there's not a lot to add to the cheering of the withdrawal from the flawed accord and to add to the hope that there may be a domino effect for other countries.  

However, there's a number of moves the conservative Harper government has taken, is taking or plans on taking on in the future. That's where the exciting part of the Harper government is.  The Kyoto withdrawal is a small part of a bigger picture.

Canada - We've got some stones.

Damn America, we're showing you up!  Israel, are you paying attention to the country that was the first to walk out on Ahmedinejad at the U.N. during his hate speech against Israel?  Hint:  It wasn't the U.S.  It was Canada.  And we have little time for Palestinian hate speech too, even if it is in tweet form.

Oops. I didn't mean to retweet it.

Meanwhile at the White House (courtesy of FT);

Exactly a year ago this week, President Barack Obama stood at the podium at the UN General Assembly and declared his support for a Palestinian state. “Palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state,” Mr Obama told the general assembly, unless the two parties reached a peace agreement. 

So it will be some degree of awkwardness that Mr Obama returns to the UN this week and directs his representatives to vote against a plan that would lead to Palestinians achieving that exact destination, albeit by a different route. 

Indeed, the US president will be acutely aware how hypocritical he must appear: voicing support for democratic transitions across the Middle East at the same time as scuppering Palestinian aspirations for recognition. Mr Obama hardly wants to be seen as being on the wrong side of the change sweeping through the Arab world.

Wishy washy. 

Dictator Watch: Wait, Ahmedinejad Lies?

Charlie Rose interviewed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September 2007. Ahmedinejad had some very clear things to say about nuclear weapons and Iran.  Some very positive things, enough to warm the heart of any naive or apologist liberal.

Syria-sly, We Mean It.

I'm a tough guy.  Syria-sly. I mean it.

Finally President Obama has gotten semi-serious on Syria. The Guardian reports;

Today, after a reported 200 deaths over a couple of weeks during which the Syrian regime has been using live ammo against its own citizens and by its own admission, the White House condemned the regime:

"We are deeply concerned by reports that Syrians who have been wounded by their government are being denied access to medical care. The escalating repression by the Syrian government is outrageous, and the United States strongly condemns the continued efforts to suppress peaceful protesters. President Assad and the Syrian government must respect the universal rights of the Syrian people, who are rightly demanding the basic freedoms that they have been denied."

Dictator Watch - Aug 2, 2010 Russian Invasion

The Dictator Watch hasn't been my focus of late, since President Obama's domestic agenda has overshadowed his foreign relations shortcomings.  Some things cannot be ignored however.

Hitler = Evil, no?

Here's one everyone can agree on - Hitler was evil. Right?  Obama with a Hitler moustache or Bush being called Bushitler is, or was crossing a line. Hitler = Evil.  Even those philosophically National Socialists would be hard pressed to defend him.  So what's the deal with Oliver Stone?

Iran shock coming soon?

February 11th is the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Ahmadinejad is planning some sort of shocker for the western world. Nobody knows what, but it's not something the United States should take lightly. It may be mere bombastic talk, but it also may be talk about a bomb. Whatever it may be, don't expect it to be about Iran deciding to play nice because President Obama is such a swell guy.

This may be a bit melodramtic, but the point is well taken: Vigilance is never overrated.

Proven, Unproven and Disproven

It's too big for a Dictator Watch.  It's a banner headline.  If you look on Drudge Report right now, it looks like a Mexican   standoff between Obama and Ahmedinejad of Iran.  A nuclear standoff. As a side story, it appears, as I've mentioned before Chavez is trying to get Venezuela in on the act.

Meanwhile Brazil's Vice President is urging his country to pursue a nuclear weapons program.

You know what seems like a great idea right now? Fast tracking a missile defense shield for America and it's allies. Oh.  Wait.  What?

That last link is a real hoot.  The President during the campaign vowed to cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.  This from the same guy who wants to invest billions in unproven green technology / new health care systems and disproven cap and trade taxes.

Ah, but there IS a consistency Ed!

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air has a column today in which he struggles to make sense of the lack of consistency coming out of the White House on the coup in Honduras versus the protests in Iran.

On the surface, he appears to be correct. The President is practically treating Iranian protesters as anathema, waiting seemingly forever before making a weak protestation against the violent suppression being employed by the government. On the other hand he wasted no time condemning the overthrow of the Mini-Chavez wannabe-be-President-for-life Zelaya.

But there's an underlying consistency to be sure. Zelayawanted totalitarian power and lost it. Obama criticized the coup. Ahmedinejad and Khameni want total power and are struggling to keep it. Obama is trying to stay hands off as much as he can get away with.

The consistency? Supporting fascism. In each case the President is on the side of the ruling class. In the case of Iran he's playing wait-and-see on the open invite to Ahmedinejad. He has no choice. The suppression is to brutal and too public for him to do otherwise. But make no mistake, Obama does not see the followers of Mousavi, the youth of the nation, those having hope and wanting change, the way he sees his own supporters. If he did, he would have been all over the election results and subsequent farce of an investigation and then violence.

The motive for him to side with the ruling class? Firstly, he's now one of them. And Obama wants more centralized power for himself too. He says he doesn't but his actions betray his rhetoric. GM, Chrysler, the banks, firing IG's without consulting Congress are but a few obvious examples of his actions being autocratic.

He seemingly believes in government by an elite few. Clearly he also has an anti-capitalism bent which caused him to rush to judgment on Zelaya and end up on the same side as Chavez. Ironically in each case Honduras, Iran and America, the situation is combining the precepts of fascism (centralized power) with socialism (government ownership or dictate of the economy) - a concept tried to dramatic and horrific results in 1930's and 40's Germany.

The point though is that there IS a consistency out of the White House, you just have to look behind the obvious inconsistencies to find it. The consistency is not in the actions but rather the motivations.

Addendum: was it a coup? Yes, for the reason Ed gives about whisking the President out of the country. Was it for the right reasons? Yes. Should the US be against it or support it? Tricky.

As conservatives we always try to argue logic over emotion, thinking over feeling, so this is a tricky one for us. We also support the rule of law. Based on that alone, the coup therefore was illegal. The remediation would be for the army to look to the Congress or supreme court for direction. But what happens next in Honduras is unclear.

The other side of the argument is that Zelaya's actions were illegal too. For Obama it came down to like versus dislike. For conservatives it comes down to this - Honduras will not fall into a socialist/fascist style government like Venezuela. That's good. I think we have to quietly cheer for an outcome of a return to democracy in Honduras. The coup while unfortunate was necessary - if ever the Domino Theory had legs it is in the case of South America. Yes, we'd be siding with an illegal act, yes we'd be inconsistent with some of our principles. But this is a case of the other side being dirty (Zelaya copying Chavez) and consistent (Obama tacitly or overtly backing anti-democratic players). If we can't get a little dirty in foreign affairs then where does that leave us? It leaves America as a nation more vulnerable, and it leaves conservatives unable to compete with a Democratic machine.

But loosening our moral certitude to be able to fight injustice, foreign or domestic, is a slippery slope. There are no easy answers.