By contrast there is nothing but lose/lose courting Karzai and his bunch corrupt thugs. For me all this war has done has cost us valuable lives of brave young soldiers and lowered the street price of heroin to compete against crack as the drug of choice for addicts. We don’t really know who our enemy in Afghanistan is, as experts now tell us Al Qaeda jumped across the border to reside in Pakistan. At the beginning of the war it was all about flushing out bin Laden and his fellow cave dwellers. With this as the goal I was under the impression the Taliban came over to our side because the equal disdain for this mutual enemy. Today the Taliban is claiming responsibility for all sorts of acts of violence against our soldiers in Afghanistan.

The reason for Karzai’s visit was nothing short of a mission of blackmail. The sole purpose of his trip was to demand more cash and if he didn’t get it then he would be “forced” to surrender to the Taliban. This man is the best friend of the war lords who control Afghanistan’s only industry; black tar. Some knowledgeable individuals say Karzai and his family are the biggest traders of the drug to the western world and have been for decades. My argument is who cares about the Taliban? They are not international terrorists and it appears few Muslims outside of Afghanistan have ever supported their cause. Karzai, sorry mate, if I were the President of USA, I would immediately order the troops back home, let the civil war begin and may the best man win. Afghanistan is of no value whatsoever and as much as I hate the human rights that exist there, let the Europeans (Europe is all but a close neighbor) become advisors/policemen. I then would redirect all the drones into blowing the Pakistani border into oblivion so every last vestige of Al Qaeda is eradicated. Immediately after that I would quit and let that other arch enemy of ours, Pakistan pick up the pieces. Without Al Qaeda, Pakistan is no threat because they are so pre-occupied with the possibility of an attack from India.

I’ve said it before; America has to sort out who are our real enemies. It certainly is not North Korea or Iran; they are China, Russia and India in that order. They want to see an economically weak and universally unpopular America so they can wield their own influence upon the world. We are slowly being sucked into that web. It is called globalization. The sad thing is it is the American multinational corporations who are effectively sponsoring it. Unfortunately we do have traitors in our camp.

While nutcases like Reverend Pat Robertson and right wing commentators such as Hill Billy heroin addict Rush Limbaugh have already made some pretty disgusting comments on the situation, I think President Obama and his team have displayed huge compassion and an absolute determination to get America into action to help with the huge problems on the ground. This morning I saw on MSNBC the first C 17 arriving with supplies, the start of a shuttle service getting all the necessary equipment, medicines, food and water to begin the cleanup. American volunteer organizations are already en route to do their thing on the ground alongside the American military. No country in the world can match America for mobilizing into action when a disaster occurs. In fact the world looks to us as though this is our job. Where are bin Laden and his motley crew right now? Still hiding inside caves in Pakistan plotting their next terror attack? No disrespect, but you never hear a Muslim country, even when Indonesia was hit by the Tsunami, coming forward and actively participating when disaster strikes. Where is Iran right now? Saudi Arabia? Jordan? Kuwait? No, they are silent, because they have more important things to do like funding the Taliban and Al Qaeda. These are the people who believe their religion holds the answers to the world’s prosperity.

I believe the two Samoa’s are slowly feeling the benefits of what Australia, New Zealand and America are doing investing to get those two countries back on their feet, but isolation and small population makes it a long and difficult task. Haiti is literally hundreds of miles away from America. I hope President Obama keeps FEMA and its buddies well away from Haiti, because the worst example of inaction I have ever seen in my lifetime was the Bush/Cheney deal with New Orleans. I will never forget the statement President Bush uttered to the head of FEMA, “Browny, you’re doing a great job!” New Orleans is still a mess and it is now left to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie to be the standard bearers for the residents still suffering from Katrina.

President Obama was very smart in immediately appointing President Clinton to head the project. No-one can “rally the troops” like he can. Unlike the Bush/Cheney administration’s record with New Orleans and despite the present naysayers led by those numbskull right wing commentators, I have absolute faith in this administration’s ability to succeed in Haiti. America will excel itself as humanitarians in rebuilding Haiti and bringing hope to this desperate country, something Spain and France couldn’t do for centuries and the United Nations has failed to do for decades.

In the new world environment, I believe we never need to worry about speculators ever again. Once summer arrives we also don’t need to concern ourselves with Russia’s bullying and anti American tactics and as for that fat little fool Chavez, in Venezuela, he had better head for the jungles of Columbia right now. His peoples will want to string him up when their economy goes to hell in a hand basket and they realize how this wretched “Napoleon” squandered the country’s future. Dubai is going to look the most ridiculous ghost town on earth. Maybe they should offer up all those vacant apartments to bin Laden and all his terrorist mates from Pakistan to London. Bin Laden and his army must be sick of hiding in those hell holes of caves by now and quite frankly I can only imagine a possible Arab immigrant/refugee wanting to take up residence in any Middle Eastern country that has plenty of accommodation on offer.

What is going to happen to the large Western-owned oil companies? BP has been smart over the past ten years and I think in this new environment of alternative energy they will play a leading role in grabbing market share. Shell is in decline as its reserves dwindle and the cost of exploration that will not yield any returns will mean it will merge or fade away. Chevron has adopted a similar approach to BP but does not enjoy good public relations. Exxon Mobil in a nutshell is reviled, almost as badly its founder, John D. Rockefeller was in his heyday. Mergers will continue as the “Super Majors” (Exxon-Mobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Conoco Philips and Total of France) carve up the smaller pie for a bigger slice. On the other hand I think India’s and China’s late entrance into investing in oil is ill-fated and I see a quick exit once they realize they have lost their shirts.

It is such a shame that the era of a buck plus per gallon for gasoline really won’t influence our lives positively for a few years to come, but when life does return to normal we will face a new era, being ripped off by the suppliers of alternate energy! Our only savior will be the government protecting us with legislation that protects us from the ensuing greed and avarice of the new generation of rip off merchants!