Current Events and the Psychology of Politics
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Archive for January, 2011

Jan 31st, 2011

Summary: As Egyptians take to the streets to call for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, some analysts caution about the prospect of protests in Egypt spreading across the Arab world, with popular revolt erupting in Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen, Jordan, Syria, and even Saudi Arabia, with grave implications for regional stability and U.S. national security interests. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 31, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that U.S. Special Forces working with Afghan commandos clashed with Afghan troops manning a snow-covered outpost and called in an airstrike, killing four Afghan soldiers in a case of mistaken identity. Separately, an Afghan interpreter killed two U.S. service members at a combat outpost and U.S. soldiers shot and killed an Afghan imam when his car approached a convoy.


Jan 30th, 2011

Summary: Islamic leaders rallied at least 15,000 people against an American consular official arrested in the shooting deaths of two Pakistanis and warned the government not to cave in to U.S. pressure to release the man, who has been named as Raymond Allen Davis. … Kandahar deputy governor assassinated in Afghanistan. … Deadly Kabul grocery store bombing targeted Xe (Blackwater) employee. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 30, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, in a new audiotape, called for the world to boycott American goods and the U.S. dollar, blaming the United States and other industrialized countries for global warming.



Summary: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits. Veterans of Foreign Wars said Bachmann was “totally out of step with America’s commitment to our veterans”; Veterans for Common Sense said they were “outraged” that Bachmann’s proposal “would leave veterans twisting in the wind”; and Disabled American Veterans called Bachmann’s ideas “ill-advised,” “nothing short of heartless” and “wrong-headed.” … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 29, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that an unrepentant Tony Blair defended his decision to join the United States in attacking Iraq, invoking the discredited neocon argument before a panel investigating the war that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks made the threat of weapons of mass destruction impossible to ignore.


Jan 28th, 2011

Summary: Weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, compiled from U.S. Department of Defense news releases and iCasualties.org. One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 28, 2010, Aubrey Immelman provided his weekly report of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.


Jan 27th, 2011

Summary: MSNBC Hardball’s Chris Matthews was so outraged about Michele Bachmann’s ignorance about the U.S. Constitution and American history that he called her a “balloon head” and lambasted Tea Party Express co-founder Sal Russo for inviting the airheaded Bachmann to give a televised response to President Obama’s 2011 State of the Union address. One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 27, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that Americans were becoming increasingly fed up with Congress, the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, and the federal government.


Jan 26th, 2011

Summary: While most Americans are focused on legitimate economic concerns, looming threats to our national security are building on the horizon, for example, the regrouping of al-Qaida to mount coordinated attacks on the United States — including Mumbai-style swarm attacks, Beslan-style school massacres, and other low-intensity, low-casualty (but panic-inducing) acts of terror with the potential to inflict serious damage on the U.S. economy. This week’s suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport is a tragedy that could just as easily happen in the United States. One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 26, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that a new report warned that al-Qaida had not abandoned its goal of attacking the United States with a chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapon and examined al-Qaida’s high-value target list for terrorist attacks on U.S. soil.


Jan 25th, 2011

Summary: Declaring that the nation faces big decisions like those it confronted at the dawn of the space race, President Barack Obama called for sweeping bipartisan “investments” in science, education, and infrastructure in his 2011 State of the Union address — all without increasing government spending. Rep. Michele Bachmann delivered the Tea Party response. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 25, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that three car bombs exploded near three Baghdad hotels popular with Western journalists, security contractors, and businessmen, killing at least 37 people and injuring more than 100.


Jan 24th, 2011

Summary: The search continues for U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ahmed Kousay al-Taie, missing in Iraq since Oct. 23, 2006, Duty Status Whereabouts Unknown. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 24, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that President Barack Obama recalled his former campaign manager, David Plouffe, and was reconstituting the team that helped him win the White House in 2008 to counter Republican challenges in the 2010 midterm elections and recalibrate after political setbacks that have narrowed his legislative ambitions. He also reported on the political psychology of Barack Obama, including Obama’s personality profile, leadership style, and decision-making style.


Jan 23rd, 2011

Summary: Tea Party-backed lawmakers are not exempting the military’s multibillion-dollar budget from spending cuts in a time of war. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 23, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that the death of two U.S. soldiers in southern Afghanistan brought to at least 22 the number of American service members killed January 2010, compared with only 14 for the whole of January 2009. Meanwhile, in Pakistan, militants ambushed Pakistani security forces at checkpoints in two regions close to the Afghan border, sparking gunbattles that left 22 insurgents and two troops dead.


Jan 22nd, 2011

Summary: Ed Mauser, the last surviving member of the “Band of Brothers” who fought in some of World War II’s fiercest European battles, has died at the age of 94. … One-year retrospective: One year ago today, on January 22, 2010, Aubrey Immelman reported that NATO released video of a complex Taliban attack on the Presidential Palace and other government buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan, on January 18, 2010.