Regime change

[alvarezadams]

Anyone old enough to remember Tom Leher might remember a song of his titled "Send the Marines". A stanza of said song is very much "today":

For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
Till somebody we like can be elected.

Things as they are, however (with our troops otherwise occupied making Iraq safe for Exxon and Haliburton and Bechtel), money is a cheap alternative... albeit without the fillip for arms manufacturers.

To whit, this about a popularly elected government that we've already tried to overthrow once:

US accused of bid to oust Chávez with secret funds

· Millions of dollars given to opposition, claim critics
· Venezuelan groups' details hidden from list

The US government has been accused of trying to undermine the Chávez government in Venezuela by funding anonymous groups via its main international aid agency.
Millions of dollars have been provided in a "pro-democracy programme" that Chávez supporters claim is a covert attempt to bankroll an opposition to defeat the government.

The money is being provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through its Office of Transition Initiatives. The row follows the recent announcement that the US had made $80m (£42m) available for groups seeking to bring about change in Cuba, whose leader, Fidel Castro, is a close ally of Mr Chávez.

Information about the grants has been obtained following a Freedom of Information request by the Associated Press. USAID released copies of 132 contracts but obscured the names and other identifying details of nearly half the organisations.
The Office of Transition Initiatives, which also works in such "priority countries" as Iraq, Afghanistan, Bolivia and Haiti, has overseen more than $26m in grants to groups in Venezuela since 2002....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/venezuela/story/0,,1860867,00.html

Of course oil has nothing to do with this, neither does Chavez' absoutely revolting practice of spreading his country's oil wealth between its citizens (as opposed to those deserving stockholders of foreign oil companies).

As for the role of USAID, how many people still believe that our "international aid" is altruistic? C'mon! Let's see a show of hands!

If I don't like the results of this straw poll I can just emulate our government and discount it. I can use your money to foment a different election result. Or I can appeal to the Supremes.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. Ah, this is old hat, we've been in the regime change business

for years. How do you think we've gotten ourselves into the mess we are in today.

[alvarezadams]

2. No shit

[Freedom_from_Chains]

3. No shit, really. n/t

[alvarezadams]

4. I was agreeing

And I know that it's been our MO since the Mexican-American War and William Walker.