A day for the WTF files

It’s been one, quite literally, for me. Starting with this head-spinning report from Russia Today:

Not only do Israel and Iran actually agree on something–and that something is a Russia-sponsored UN resolution against the glorification of Nazism–but the “freedom-loving” United States of Amnesia opposes that same thing! Happily, the RT journalists bring up the matter of Project Paperclip, in which old Nazis became brand-new CIA torture trainers, espionage “experts”, and other nefarious specialities that the US of A was all too happy to exploit in its quest for Total World Domination™, starting in the Cold War era. This may seem shocking to some; to me it’s practically a no-brainer that the dang Russkies are more freedom-loving, at the bottom of it, than the Yanks are right now. They know from sad Stalin-era experience what the lack of freedom felt like; the US has forgotten, mainly because they had (and still have) more junk on their store shelves to choose from, and mistook (and still mistake) that for freedom. I’m happy to see that a freer press exists in Russia now, and that its reporters don’t shy away from shining a hard light on the old Cold War enemy and its ongoing devotion to the Bad Old Days. This is the kind of reporting we should be seeing all the time, everywhere.

Now: speaking of old Cold Warriors, how about that General Videla? Finally he got a taste of justice. He’s going to civilian prison for the rest of his life, which probably won’t be long now, seeing as he’s 85 and all. Maybe they should release him in the general prison population, while they’re at it. There are probably guys in there who lost someone they knew to Videla’s death squads during the ’70s and ’80s. I’m sure they’d be only too happy to keep him company. Especially since he expressed psychopathic sentiments like the following:

In court on Tuesday, Videla appeared to lack any regret over his past actions, calling what many call the Dirty War a “just war”.

“I did not come here to defend myself today nor speak in my defence, in my eyes, defending myself doesn’t make sense,” he said.

“With this reality, which I cannot change, I will accept, however unwillingly, the unjust sentence that you are able to pass on me as a contribution on my part to the ends of national harmony and I will offer it as an additional service that I owe to God, Our Lord and the nation.”

He didn’t come to defend himself because he couldn’t. What he did was indefensible.

The other big WTF is what he said about the Kirchners. They’re “Gramscian Marxists”? Not even close. Ask a real Argentine socialist about that, and prepare to have your head blown off by a gale of laughter.

And how’s this for a WTF file, literally? Wikileaks now has a CIA task force dedicated to it. It’s called WTF for short. And if that acronym doesn’t make you chuckle, maybe this will:

What’s interesting is that the WTF is suppose to assess what damage has been done as a result of the Wikileaks disclosures, yet the Department of Defense has already said, “WikiLeaks did not disclose any sensitive intelligence sources or methods, the Department of Defense concluded.”

Emphasis added. Linkage as in original.

The only real damage Wikileaks has done, to date, is highlight the emperor’s already obvious nudity. Most of us who’ve been watching the State Dept.’s shenanigans around the globe are yawning over this; it’s no news to us.

It’s also no surprise that US embassies are full of liars dressed up as diplomats. It’s only surprising (and sad) that none of these lying, spying embarrassments have been sent packing by the governments they’ve been sent to subvert…yet. Except, of course, in Latin America, where Evo kicked Goldilocks out of Bolivia, and Chavecito’s not letting the obviously meddlesome Larry Palmer into Venezuela. But then, those diplomatic conflicts were already in progress before Cablegate. And the expulsions would have happened regardless.

Of course, the leaked cables I’ve seen so far present both of these smart leaders as crazy-ass bad guys for wanting putschist “diplomats” out (and honest ones in their stead). WTF were we expecting? CIA spooks have long had diplomatic cover in Latin America. Philip Agee told us as much nearly 40 years ago. The question is, will anything really change in the aftermath of Cablegate?

And alas, that question is wholly rhetorical.