Unfolding Authoritarianism And The Afghan Setback

NATO to hand combat role to Afghans as it seeks way out of war... NATO will hand over the lead role in combat operations to Afghan forces across the country by mid-2013, alliance leaders said on Sunday as they charted a path out of a war that has lost public support and strained budgets in Western nations. A NATO summit in Chicago on Monday will formally endorse a U.S.-backed strategy for a gradual exit from Afghanistan, a move aimed at holding together an allied force scrambling to cope with France's decision to withdraw its troops early. – Reuters

Dominant Social Theme: This is merely a strategic reconfiguration.

Free-Market Analysis: For years now, we've tracked the expanding authoritarianism of the West – and in the process been subject to various labels. But lately, we have to think that our worldview doesn't look so very extreme. (Cold comfort, that.)

Just in the US (never mind Europe), the out-of-control government of Barack Obama has basically okayed an entire suspension of civil rights. At the discretion of the authorities, citizen can literally be arrested without cause for saying the wrong things at the wrong time.

Habeas corpus has been suspended and military personnel exhibit their wares and practices within the borders of the US with "terrorism" as the justification. Civil policing has been expanded into the military realm with the advent of a huge amount of military weaponry.

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