Who remembers the phrase, "a carpet of bombs?'"
Does anyone remember this quote coming up at 9/11 with people claiming it was what started that whole mess:
"EITHER YOU accept our offer of a carpet of gold, or we bury you under a carpet of bombs." That's how one U.S. diplomat reportedly put it to Afghanistan's Taliban government during negotiations that began just after George W. Bush took over the White House in January 2001--and continued until just weeks before September 11.
Essentially, America wanted oil...for Americans, and took the stupid measure of directly threatening a country that had terrorist cells that stretched all the way to Saudi Arabia. They just needed a reason to attack us.
And now we have Trump using the same approach, only very loudly and brashly. Panama is the latest example. What is off in this case, is that what does it matter to the US government what a sovereign country charges for passage rates? Trump isn't using the power of the presidency for us. He is using it for his business cronies. And he thinks Panama is going to be an easy target.
About those rates, the president of Panama said those rates were carefully calculated and did not come up on a whim. I believe him. There is a lot that goes into the operation of the Panama Canal, including the fact that it is also going to experience problems because of climate change. I believe the Chagres recorded its lowest water level. All these things have to be factored in.
But that's just Panama. Trump is going to do this all around the world. This autocrat is using the United States to bully countries to get better deals for his big American donors.
What can go wrong? You mean, like 9/11 went wrong?
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