What a great way to cap off a soulful Sunday afternoon…
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Nadir & Distorted Soul
LIVE on Nick Austin’s New Soul Sundays
WDET Radio 101.9 FM
Detroit, Michigan
Showtime: 5pm – 7pm LISTEN LIVE @ http://wdet.org/listenlive/
Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s expose in Rolling Stone already demonstrated that the war effort in Afghanistan is going much worse than we had imagined. Now the release of 90,000 classified US government documents provide greater context to our fears.
These documents, allegedly leaked by US army intelligence analyst, Spc. Bradley Manning to Wikileaks.org, emphasize that elements within the government of our “ally” Pakistan may be providing training to the Taliban, helping them to attack US troops, that civilian deaths have been underreported, that the US military’s unmanned drone program is largely a failure, and friendly fire deaths among NATO forces and among Afghan security forces are epidemic.
Aside from key efforts within the Democratic Party by politically connected activists like the progressives at Democrats.com, the antiwar left has been nearly silent, choosing to give a pass to the Obama administration and the Democratically led Congress. How long can this last? We have to pressure Congress and the administration to change course.
The war in Afghanistan is unwinnable, and that won’t change during the Obama administration nor the administration afterward. However, the US position in Afghanistan is extremely complex, and our complete and immediate withdrawal might cause the broader region to descend into chaos.
It is obvious that the war effort cannot continue the way it has. Military minds say that Obama’s escalation and counter insurgency strategy isn’t working. So what is the answer? And how many billions must be spent and how many lives must be lost while our corrupt, unethical, inept politicians engage in partisan bickering instead of working to come up with real solutions?
After a valiant three year battle, Cincinnati bass guitarist and funk warrior Chris Walker succumbed on Saturday to the injuries he sustained in a car crash back in 2007. He leaves with us a legacy of wonderful memories, all joy, laughter and dancing.
I wrote about my friend and brother back in August of last year when I traveled to Cincy to play at a Friends for Chris Walker benefit concert. His sister, Carole, and the many musical friends Chris cultivated over the years held periodic performances to help pay the former working musician’s medical bills.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 10 in Cincinnati. Rest in The Funk, my brother.
After a valiant three year battle, Cincinnati bass guitarist and funk warrior Chris Walker succumbed on Saturday to the injuries he sustained in a car crash back in 2007. He leaves with us a legacy of wonderful memories, all joy, laughter and dancing.
I wrote about my friend and brother back in August of last year when I traveled to Cincy to play at a Friends for Chris Walker benefit concert. His sister, Carole, and the many musical friends Chris cultivated over the years held periodic performances to help pay the former working musician’s medical bills.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, July 10 in Cincinnati. Rest in The Funk, my brother.
So I finally got a chance to read the Rolling Stone article that brought down a general.
It is said that General Stanley McChrystal was fired for his contemptuous attitude toward his civilian bosses. However, McChrystal’s conduct isn’t the most damning aspect of the piece.
Michael Hastings paints a bleak portrait of the adventure that is the longest war in US history. The Counter Insurgency strategy (abbreviated COIN) advocated by McChrystal and sold to Obama isn’t working, and isn’t likely to work.
The article leaves me repeating the same question I’ve been asking for years: “What’s the point? Why are we at war in Afghanistan?”
Take this assessment from the article:
After nine years of war, the Taliban simply remains too strongly entrenched for the U.S. military to openly attack. The very people that COIN seeks to win over – the Afghan people – do not want us there.
Our supposed ally, President Karzai, used his influence to delay the offensive, and the massive influx of aid championed by McChrystal is likely only to make things worse. “Throwing money at the problem exacerbates the problem,” says Andrew Wilder, an expert at Tufts University who has studied the effect of aid in southern Afghanistan. “A tsunami of cash fuels corruption, delegitimizes the government and creates an environment where we’re picking winners and losers” – a process that fuels resentment and hostility among the civilian population.
So far, counterinsurgency has succeeded only in creating a never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military: perpetual war. There is a reason that President Obama studiously avoids using the word “victory” when he talks about Afghanistan. Winning, it would seem, is not really possible.
And if winning isn’t possible, then why continue to waste American treasure and lives?
When are the American people going to get fed up and demand that our president bring the troops home?
So I finally got a chance to read the Rolling Stone article that brought down a general.
It is said that General Stanley McChrystal was fired for his contemptuous attitude toward his civilian bosses. However, McChrystal’s conduct isn’t the most damning aspect of the piece.
Michael Hastings paints a bleak portrait of the adventure that is the longest war in US history. The Counter Insurgency strategy (abbreviated COIN) advocated by McChrystal and sold to Obama isn’t working, and isn’t likely to work.
The article leaves me repeating the same question I’ve been asking for years: “What’s the point? Why are we at war in Afghanistan?”
Take this assessment from the article:
After nine years of war, the Taliban simply remains too strongly entrenched for the U.S. military to openly attack. The very people that COIN seeks to win over – the Afghan people – do not want us there.
Our supposed ally, President Karzai, used his influence to delay the offensive, and the massive influx of aid championed by McChrystal is likely only to make things worse. “Throwing money at the problem exacerbates the problem,” says Andrew Wilder, an expert at Tufts University who has studied the effect of aid in southern Afghanistan. “A tsunami of cash fuels corruption, delegitimizes the government and creates an environment where we’re picking winners and losers” – a process that fuels resentment and hostility among the civilian population.
So far, counterinsurgency has succeeded only in creating a never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military: perpetual war. There is a reason that President Obama studiously avoids using the word “victory” when he talks about Afghanistan. Winning, it would seem, is not really possible.
And if winning isn’t possible, then why continue to waste American treasure and lives?
When are the American people going to get fed up and demand that our president bring the troops home?
Note from Nadir: This is a personal statement in response to WDIV’s misguided report on the US Social Forum. It is not an official USSF statement.
My name is J. Nadir Omowale, and I am a member of Detroit’s Entertainment Commission. I am a musician, Detroit advocate, and a volunteer for the US Social Forum.
I LIVE HERE!!! I’M A CITY OFFICIAL!!! I AM NOT PROTESTING DETROIT!! I LOVE DETROIT!!!
I am appalled at WDIV’s incorrect, misguided and dangerous portrayal of the United States Social Forum and its attendees as “protesters”.
The US Social Forum is a gathering of community organizers, and social justice activists. We are meeting in Detroit to teach and learn from each other.
Yes, Detroit was chosen partially because of the many challenges that the city faces, but it was also chosen for the great progress we have made as we work to improve the economic and social climate here. Continue reading
Note from Nadir: This is a personal statement in response to WDIV’s misguided report on the US Social Forum. It is not an official USSF statement.
My name is J. Nadir Omowale, and I am a member of Detroit’s Entertainment Commission. I am a musician, Detroit advocate, and a volunteer for the US Social Forum.
I LIVE HERE!!! I’M A CITY OFFICIAL!!! I AM NOT PROTESTING DETROIT!! I LOVE DETROIT!!!
I am appalled at WDIV’s incorrect, misguided and dangerous portrayal of the United States Social Forum and its attendees as “protesters”.
The US Social Forum is a gathering of community organizers, and social justice activists. We are meeting in Detroit to teach and learn from each other.
Yes, Detroit was chosen partially because of the many challenges that the city faces, but it was also chosen for the great progress we have made as we work to improve the economic and social climate here. Continue reading
For better or worse, one thing is certain: Barack Obama’s presidency forces Americans to face our own thinly camouflaged racial tensions.
Once a taboo subject, race has become a common topic in our public and private discourse. Whether it’s conservative pols using YouTube video to stoke the embers of racial division, my longtime friend and foil, libertarian commentator Paul Hue, challenging racial assumptions and stereotypes on his Facebook page, or the always insightful and provocative, anti-racism activist Tim Wise, debating with Roland Martin, Julia Reed and Don Lemon on CNN, race is now front and center on our computer screens, on talk radio shows and on our minds.
The question of Obama’s anger is especially timely to me because of a discussion I had a couple of days ago with my manager and friend, Cornelius Harris, of Alter Ego Management. He stressed the importance of guarding my own words to avoid projecting what some people may perceive as an “angry black man” persona. Cornelius emphasized that a seemingly harmless and even humorous conversation could be misinterpreted because of our society’s racial conditioning. It’s not just an issue for Obama. This is something black men face in the boardroom, at the bus stop and in the world of music.
John Blake’s article on CNN.com asks point blank: “Who would have ever expected some white Americans to demand that an African-American man show more rage?”
Obama’s presidency forces America to confront its fear of the black man, and along with the immigration debate, the so-called war on terror, and the many aspects of the economic crisis, we are openly talking about our fear of the brown man, the red man, the yellow man and even the white man. Race has become a common topic because in this multicultural society, our fear of “the other” has never been far from the surface.
On one hand, this is a good thing. These are conversations that we’ve largely avoided in the post-civil rights era. The climate of fear is high right now, so perhaps this is some sort of group therapy, where we talk about some of the fears and phobias that persist in our lives.
However, as Julia Reed points out in the CNN segment above, all this talk of race may be distracting us from the real issues at hand. (Notably, the only woman in the debate asks about the logic of even having the argument.)
How much do our racial attitudes play into our perception of public figures and the people we interact with every day in the office, on the street or over the Internet? Do these attitudes (or even the analysis of the tensions) distract us from the real problems of environmental disaster, corporate and political corruption, and economic meltdown?
And perhaps most importantly, can’t we all just get along?
For better or worse, one thing is certain: Barack Obama’s presidency forces Americans to face our own thinly camouflaged racial tensions.
Once a taboo subject, race has become a common topic in our public and private discourse. Whether it’s conservative pols using YouTube video to stoke the embers of racial division, my longtime friend and foil, libertarian commentator Paul Hue, challenging racial assumptions and stereotypes on his Facebook page, or the always insightful and provocative, anti-racism activist Tim Wise, debating with Roland Martin, Julia Reed and Don Lemon on CNN, race is now front and center on our computer screens, on talk radio shows and on our minds.
The question of Obama’s anger is especially timely to me because of a discussion I had a couple of days ago with my manager and friend, Cornelius Harris, of Alter Ego Management. He stressed the importance of guarding my own words to avoid projecting what some people may perceive as an “angry black man” persona. Cornelius emphasized that a seemingly harmless and even humorous conversation could be misinterpreted because of our society’s racial conditioning. It’s not just an issue for Obama. This is something black men face in the boardroom, at the bus stop and in the world of music.
John Blake’s article on CNN.com asks point blank: “Who would have ever expected some white Americans to demand that an African-American man show more rage?”
Obama’s presidency forces America to confront its fear of the black man, and along with the immigration debate, the so-called war on terror, and the many aspects of the economic crisis, we are openly talking about our fear of the brown man, the red man, the yellow man and even the white man. Race has become a common topic because in this multicultural society, our fear of “the other” has never been far from the surface.
On one hand, this is a good thing. These are conversations that we’ve largely avoided in the post-civil rights era. The climate of fear is high right now, so perhaps this is some sort of group therapy, where we talk about some of the fears and phobias that persist in our lives.
However, as Julia Reed points out in the CNN segment above, all this talk of race may be distracting us from the real issues at hand. (Notably, the only woman in the debate asks about the logic of even having the argument.)
How much do our racial attitudes play into our perception of public figures and the people we interact with every day in the office, on the street or over the Internet? Do these attitudes (or even the analysis of the tensions) distract us from the real problems of environmental disaster, corporate and political corruption, and economic meltdown?
And perhaps most importantly, can’t we all just get along?
