UN Fires Obama's Envoy To Afghanistan

This story is just full of irony and twists and turns that are only possible in the world of diplomats.

First the cast of characters.

Peter Galbraith, the UN's second in command in Afghanistan. He got the job at the insistence of the newly elected Barack Obama in light of strong opposition from the UN.

Ban Ki Moon, current head of the UN.

Kai Eide, a Norwegian who vehemently opposed the appointment of Mr Galbraith, and who was his boss in Afghanistan.

Throw in a dose of Richard Holbrooke and a controversial election and pure comedy ensues.

Mr. Galbraith just either quit or got fired from his posting in Afghanistan because he wanted the UN to put a more visible voice to the recent election and the irregularities that were reported. Mr. Moon and Mr. Eide told him to shut up. This has all the hallmarks of another UN scandal; not for the firing, but rather for what sort of backroom deals are going on at the UN that they would not more attention brought to the allegations of election fraud in Afghanistan.

Oh, don't think Galbraith is all that much of a knight in shining armor. In 2007, he authored a book entitled The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created A War Without End. Galbraith's solution? Partitioning the country into three parts, also known as the Biden Plan. Ironically, he was one of the very same people who led the charge to depose Saddam Hussein.

I supported President Bush's decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. At Wolfowitz's request, I helped advance the case for war, drawing on my work in previous years in documenting Saddam's atrocities, including the use of chemical weapons on the Kurds. In spite of the chaos that followed the war, I am sure that Iraq is better off without Saddam Hussein.

At the time of his appointment back in March the Times Online had this to say.

Peter Galbraith, son of the late economist J.K. Galbraith, became the UN's second-in-command in Afghanistan, despite the protests from the man who will now be his boss. The appointment strengthens US influence over the UN operation in Afghanistan as the Obama Administration is about to reveal its new strategy to win the war against the resurgent Taleban.

As far as the title of ambassador, that didn't go so well either.

He served as US Ambassador in Croatia from 1993 to 1998 while Mr Holbrooke was brokering the peace in the Balkan wars. He became embroiled in controversy over his role in alleged US complicity in Iranian arms shipments to Croatia and Bosnia, in violation of UN sanctions.

So back in March when Barry O was dedicated to winning in Afghanistan he appointed this guy at the same time he was removing Christopher Hill from Korea and reassigning him to Iraq, because after all he did such a wonderful job with North Korea; people who might have been asking questions were so deep into Obama worship that moves that would have struck many people as being designed to purposely lose the wars we were engaged in simply flew under the radar.

I feel Galbraith was standing up for the right thing in advocating for an investigation into the election process in Afghanistan, but I wonder what he thinks of ACORN and their role in electing our president?

Don't you just sleep better at night knowing the Barry O international team is on the job now?

Obama 'Reaches Out' to Enemies

No, silly, not Republicans. They're just too evil, brimming with hatred and fomenting all those raucous mobs opposed to his divine plan to bestow health care upon the huddled masses.

No, reaching out to the GOP would just be going too far for his supporters, especially his buddies at the Daily Kos.

Rather than making peace with his fellow Americans, our fearless leader is looking to get cozy with the enemies of America.

U.S. President Barack Obama has started reaching out to some of Pakistan's most fervent Islamist and anti-American parties, including one that helped give rise to the Taliban, trying to improve Washington's image in the nuclear-armed state.

Obama's special envoy, Richard Holbrooke, is initiating dialogue between the United States and religious parties previous administrations had largely shunned, both sides said.

"The purpose is to broaden the base of American relations in Pakistan beyond the relatively narrow circle of leaders Washington has previously dealt with," explained Vali Nasr, senior adviser to Holbrooke.

John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during the Bush presidency, questioned Holbrooke's timing for trying to engage Taliban sympathizers on the eve of elections in neighboring Afghanistan, where U.S. forces are battling the hardline Islamic group.

"As a general proposition, democracy in Pakistan is fragile enough now that negotiating with people that some on the democratic side of the Pakistani spectrum would think themselves are terrorists strikes me as fairly risky," Bolton said.

"What we ought to be doing is making sure that our ties with the military are strong because the gravest risk is radical penetration of the military."

At one of this week's sessions, Liaqat Baloch, a top member of the religious, right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) party, told Holbrooke he welcomed the new administration's public change in tone toward Muslims around the world.

But Baloch said he was disturbed to see "no change in practice" in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where Obama has stepped up military operations against the Taliban on both sides of the border.

Holbrooke invited Jamaat-e-Islami, whom some U.S. officials compare to the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, to visit the heavily guarded American embassy compound in Islamabad, seeking to dispel long-running rumors that thousands of U.S. Marines would be based there.

Holbrooke rejected the party's complaints about a Western "assault" on Islam, saying "that could not be further from the truth" with Obama, who has roots in the religion, now in the White House.

Fazl-ur-Rehman, whose Jamiat-e-ulema-e-Islam party was active in rousing support for the Taliban in 1990s, also got an audience with Holbrooke and his team.

Rehman denies al Qaeda's responsibility for the September 11, 2001, attacks, and once warned that if U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan, no American in Pakistan would be safe.

This is change? Having dialogue with 9/11 deniers?

Good grief. I would suggest if this gets the proper coverage it deserves Obama's sinking poll numbers will drop even more precipitously.

How'd the Vetters Miss This? Obama Special Envoy Served on AIG Board

Why, I'm outraged! I wonder if Chuckie Schumer and Barney Fwank will be demanding some money from him?

Obama administration special envoy Richard Holbooke was on the American International Group Inc. board of directors in early 2008 when the insurance company locked in the bonuses now stoking national outrage.

Holbrooke, a veteran diplomat who is now the administration's point man on Pakistan and Afghanistan, served on the board between 2001 and mid-2008. During that period, AIG undertook the aggressive investment strategies that led to a near-collapse and forced a multibillion-dollar federal bailout.

President Barack Obama has insisted his administration was not responsible for AIG's financial woes, and a White House spokesman said Thursday that Holbrooke was unaware of AIG's decision to award retention bonuses to key employees.

The best and brightest, always totally unaware of what's happening on their watch. Holbrooke apparently made out very well.

According to the SEC filings, AIG paid Holbrooke $267,943 in fees and stock awards in 2007; he was paid $232,865 in 2006. Compensation figures for the six months he was on the board in 2008 are not yet available. By prorating his 2007 compensation, he could have earned about $107,500 in directors fees and stock.

Between 2001 and 2005 the records indicate he earned $200,000 in director's fees. He also received 2,400 shares of AIG stock and options to purchase 10,000 more during that period.

Meanwhile, here come the lynch mobs.

Now these executives are toxic, and those communities are rattled and divided. Private security guards have been stationed outside their houses, and sometimes the local police drive by. A.I.G. employees at the company’s office tower in Lower Manhattan were told to avoid leaving the building while a demonstration was going on outside. The memo also advised them to avoid displaying company-issued ID cards when they left the office and to abandon tote bags or other items with the A.I.G. logo.

One A.I.G. executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared the consequences of identifying himself, said many workers felt demonized and betrayed. “It is as bad if not worse than McCarthyism,” he said. Everyone has sacrificed the employees of A.I.G.’s financial products division, he said, “for their own political agenda.”

The public’s anger, he said, “is coming from bad facts as a result of someone else’s agenda — or just bad facts period.” Instead, he said, the so-called bonuses were in fact just payments that had been promised long ago to workers, including technical and administrative assistants.

A.I.G. employees are not the only ones seeking protection: An executive at Merrill Lynch, where bonuses have also come under fire, said that some employees had asked whether the firm would cover the cost of private security for them.

I hope these thugs in Washington are happy now that people's lives are in danger.

Now we even have socialist bus tours of AIG employees' homes. Classy.

The Connecticut Working Families party, which has support from organized labor, is planning a bus tour of A.I.G. executives’ homes on Saturday, with a stop at the company’s Wilton office.

“We’re going to be peaceful and lawful in everything we do,” said Jon Green, the director of Connecticut Working Families. “I know there’s a lot of anger and a lot of rage about what’s happened. We’re not looking to foment that unnecessarily, but what we want to do is give folks in Bridgeport and Hartford and other parts of Connecticut who are struggling and losing their homes and their jobs and their health insurance an opportunity to see what kinds of lifestyle billions of dollars in credit-default swaps can buy.”