Exit strategy?

According to General Mc Chrystal, we are losing the war in Afghanistan. By all measures, the Talibans are gaining ground, and, worse, they are also winning the famous hearts and minds. Why is it that in spite of so much investment in blood and treasure , NATO forces are losing? The average Afghan is aware that western public opinions are tired of the war. They see that when one soldier dies, the French president, the Canadian Premier or the British PM give them national funerals. Opposition parties are against the war , and, in the US, President Obama's very supporters are very vocal against the pursuit of our engagement. Apart from a few countries, NATO members only pay lip service to their commitment. Their public opinion should be reminded that they are in Afghanistan under artcle 5 of the NATO charter which mandates help to any member who is attacked. Certain memembers, like Germany, have loaded their presence with so much "caveats", that it is said that the Bundeswehr is drinking beer in the North while the Caanadians are being killed in the South. And, GIs are wont to quip that ISAF stands for:" ISaw Americans Fight".
Barack Obama is deliberating, without much input from NATO, whether to stay or turn tail. Most Afghans, seeing the long discussions and the reluctant allies, have concluded that it was better to be friends with the next masters, the Talibans, than with westerners who have a long history of turning tails. Afghani farmers make more money selling opium to the bad guys than to see their fields eradicated by NATO forces.
Mr. Obama will probably emerge from his reflexions with an order to send 40,000 more troops. How many will be from Europe? It will be a watershed for the alliance. If the US leave the battlefield to the Talibans , and Al Qaeda, it will be the death knell for NATO. US voters will quickly decide they are tired of ensuring Europe's safety . I am not sure European taxpayers are ready to increase their defense budget (the Pentagon budget is equal to the budget of all other member states combined)
The future of NATO and the defense future of Europe is at play.

Istanbul

After Pittsburgh, where our Leaders gave directions to come out of the economic crisis, their finance ministers and central bankers met in Turkey to see about their implementation. I tagged along. The good news is: we are coming out of the 1 year old crisis caused by greed and the previous Administration's complicity. The bad news is that, although we are in full recovery mode, it takes a while to come out of a deep well. TARP is working and so is Obama's stimulus package. Employment will follow suit as soon as consumers will come back from where they are hiding. No consumption = no production = no jobs.
So far, the biggest victim of the banking cum subprime crisis caused by our Wall Street geniuses and the accomodating SEC, is the US dollar.
As to Turkey, it was my 4th visit, and, although I did work at the Finance Conference, I had time to explore its maze of streets and warrens of hammams, Turkish baths, coffee houses, bazaars, souks, spice markets, harems, mosques etc.. I took a trip down the Bosphorus and up the Golden Horn. I re-visited the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi.
Upon my return, I was very happy to hear of president Obama's elevation to Nobel Peace Prize. What an honor for the United States. And shame on the fanatics who chose to criticize him for it, siding with no less than the Talibans, hamas and Ahmadinejad!
When I shook his hand in Pittsburgh, little did I know I was sahking the hand of a Nobel Peace Prize. Allah is Great!

Back to work.

After the splendid beaches of Florida and the no less spectacular sites of the San Francisco Bay Area, it is back to work for me. I am about to drive to Pittsburgh, PA. to work at the G 20 conference. The G 20 is a gathering of heads of State and Bank officials. It was put together by European leaders, afraid to see the China-US leadership leave them in the dust. In order for France to be relevant, President Sarkozy decided to add the "emergent countries" India, Brazil, South Africa, and a few other nations, whose future is supposed to be bright, but unfortunately, always in the future.
In the French media, all the talk is about how tough our little president is toward Tax Havens. Of course, that is only one of the minor topics at the G 20. far more important to overcome the crisis, is the coordinated stimulus packages that unfortunately are very unpopular in France. So while the French TV news are all about Sarko's victory and Obama's disappointing performance at the UN global warming conference today, the US media are totally obsessed with what is left of the Health reform. Not much. but , hey, I will access Medicare in a few years, and if worse comes to worse, there is always France's generous insurance for its citizens.

Anyway, I will be in Pittsburgh tomorrow and will attend the G 20 conference. It will be interesting to see who is on top.

August recess

So here we are. Obama was not forceful enough to pass his Health care reform before the August recess. Blinded by his vain quest to look for bipartisanship with a Republican party reduced to a rump of Confederates, he dropped the ball. Too bad. While Congressmen and Senators repair to their constituencies to hear the latest Rush Limbaugh decree or the new Hannity attack, the French are taking the whole month off. They are at the beach courtesy of their social system. Not only do all French citizens enjoy 6 weeks off, but their 35 hour week system adds another 4 weeks to the bargain. So don't bother to try any business transaction in August, Closed for the duration. While the average American is stuck in traffic going to a job from which he can be fired at any time, his french counterpart is on the beach. He got there with his subsidized High Speed Train (managed by the government). His wife may be in a spa resort, enjoying free 3 weeks water treatment in a hotel paid for bythe State. OOps, even the kids, who each add family allowance checks to their parents'income, are on free summer camps in the Alps, or perhaps are busy gearing up for their free college in the fall. All the while on the beach, mom and dad review their utility bill (subsidized electricity supplied by government run nuclear power plants). See you in the fall in New York dear Americans , because we will always have time for a week in New York during the November holidays.
All this and socialized medicine too.

Burqa

The American public can be forgiven for not keeping up with the rest of the world, what with the 4th of July, Ms. Palin's antics, or the ubiquitous Michael Jackson. But North Korea is acting up, our boys are dying in Afghanistan, and the French have won the arms market in Iraq. Talk about unfair!
Talking about the French, their President, Nicolas Sarkozy, decided to ban the burqa in France. His argument is that it represents the oppression of women by men. He could have added that it was also a sort of " in your face" gesture by young, freshly converted French girls. (Two French Congressmen from Alsace recently confided to be worried about the rate of conversions into Islam by their young formerly christian constituents).
Already, the wearing of the scarf is not allowed for women in public service. Rightly so, given the separation of church and state.
In Holland and Sweden, potential immigrants are shown a film depicting topless sunbathing and sex ed in schools. If anybody has any objection, they are not allowed to immigrate.
Besides, when shorts and mini skirts are allowed in Riyad or Tehran, the law might be reviewed.

Single payer

One of Mr Obama's most awaited electoral promise was to fix health care.
Not quite one month after his election, I attended a pharma conference, hosted by Billy Tauzin and Trent Lott. In that room were the largest drug companies as well as some of the best private insurances. The theme of the day was to explore the first steps to block the president's reform.

Without any shame, Republican politicians are trying to block Single Payer solutions under the pretext of "socialism". In fact, these politicians are paid by lobbyists from the health industry, drug companies, private insurances and the AMA to prevent any reduction on their huge profits.
In the US, health care is vastly more costly than in Europe and far less people are covered. Infant mortality is greater in the US. As to quality, patients receive the best care in countries like France (voted best health care in the world by WHO for the 7th year running).
Adversaries of Single payer always mention Britain or Canada to scare voters. You never hear them explain the continental system (Germany, Belgium, France, Holland or Scandinavia). There, the Public System insurance covers care, hospital care, dental, eyes, ambulance, drugs, spa treatment etc. Non citizens and non employed are covered by CMU , Universal Mutual Coverage. Better even, Europeans enjoy this coverage any where in the world.
You can choose your own physician , your own hospital, and doctors earn every bit as much as their US counterparts.
So, Americans are lied to by a group of professionals trying to preserve their profit at the expense of their health. Worse, 47 million Americans do not enjoy any care at all, and those who pay their premium can be denied payment. And they tell you Single Payer would put the Government between you and your health, whereas the current sysytem puts the shareholder between you and your health.
Is single payer too costly? Imagine the savings if you could get rid of drug ads, insurance ads, insurance profits, lobbyists bribes etc. Besides, imagine the bargaining power of Single Payer facing drug manufacturers. And do not think it would kill research. Some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world are in Europe: Novartis (which just found the vaccine against H1N1), Ciba-Geigy, Glaxo Wellcome etc..

So why is Obama backing off Single Payer? Why , after sacrificing many policies in order to win Health Care, is he even taking the so-called Public Plan off the table?
I think we should all write our Congressman in favor of Single Payer.

The Third Way

President Obama is finding that he has to adapt to reality. He put an end to his lofty rethoric and is now facing tougher realities. If he wants to achieve his main goals, fixing health care, education and the energy, and perhaps go back to Congress for a second Stimulus Package, he must please his opposition. And he is more than ready to oblige: Already he has announced that the war criminals who ordered, condoned or practiced torture, hmmm, "harsh treatment", will not be accountable. For Education, he will not change NCLB which was a major coup against teachers unions from the Right. In terms of Health Care, he will keep a market based system, although shareholder profits, execs bonuses and advertising add tremendously to the cost and will not help the 50 million without any insurance. For Energy, he condemns US carmakers to building clown cars that nobody will want and that they have never been able to build (Pinto, Pacer, or Chevette anybody?)

Obama's strategy is called the Third Way. It was attempted by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and resulted in failure for both. Barack Obama was elected by an electrified electorate who wanted to run the Vulcans and the Wall Street bandits out of town , tarred and feathered. They wanted to finally enjoy a single payer, universal health care system and guaranteed pension rights, like the rest of the advanced countries. Instead, the new president, has decided to sacrifice most of these aspirations by navigating a middle way. Is he pleasing his opposition? "NO" as they themselves keep telling him. Is he disappointing his base? Yes.
Dick Cheney's virtual immunity, Big Pharma secure profits, Detroit forced to import wound up cars from China rather than to keep jobs (Obama wants to retrain them for green jobs...... gardening?), Goldman Sachs at Treasury, thousands more troops to Afghanistan, and Military Commissions reinstated, all that does not pass the smell test.

Anyway, all this will be quickly forgotten when Israel bombs Iranian nuclear centers and our friend Kim Jong Il prepares more of his firework.