Costa Rica: US Warships Cause Unease

[Judi Lynn]

Costa Rica: US Warships Cause Unease
Friday 20 August 2010

by: Jeff Leff, Global Post

Costa Rica is wary of plans to allow US Naval ships to dock on its shores.

San Jose, Costa Rica - A U.S. warship capable of deploying more than 1,000 military personnel and dozens of helicopters is headed this way — right for Costa Rica's peaceful Caribbean coast. USS Iwo Jima comes in peace, according to a U.S. embassy statement, as part the Southern Command's "Continuing Promise 2010" mission, a humanitarian operation that aims to bring free health care, engineering projects, veterinary attention, donations and even baseball games to locals.

A charm offensive like this — a friendly naval ship armed with aid for one of the country's poorest regions — might be just what the United States needs to calm the waters around its longtime friend Costa Rica.

In July, the legislative assembly here approved a U.S. request for permission to dock 46 warships and 7,000 military personnel, mostly for narcotics missions on Costa Rican territory, sparking outrage among skeptics of the global war on drugs. The critics include outspoken politicians, pacifists, student groups and everyday Ticos, who are proud of their country's six decades without a military.

Leftist lawmaker José María Villalta said these vessels are looking for a fight. Legislator Luis Fishman said congress was uninformed when it voted and claimed the arrival of the boats would be an assault on Costa Rica's sovereignty. They filed complaints with the country's high court, which has suspended the agreement while it mulls over the case.

The blogosphere began to boil over with posts titled, "U.S. invades Costa Rica," and conspiracy theorists seethed about alleged Washington plots against neighboring Nicaragua.

More:
http://www.truth-out.org/costa-rica-us-warships-cause-unease62526

[NC_Nurse]

1. I'd be wary too. I wonder what they're up to...

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Absolutely. never trust Greeks bearing gifts...as the saying goes.

[Diclotican]

14. BrklynLiberal

BrklynLiberal

Or was it never trust a persian, when they are talking peace. The Greeks learned that too...

Diclotican

[BrklynLiberal]

15. lol..but they didn't make it to the "big time" myths, as the Greeks did.

[Diclotican]

16. BrklynLiberal

BrklynLiberal

Yeah, but that is more with the fact, that everyyone know what the greeks did, but many, or at least most is ignorant of what the persians did.. Many are still really ignorant over the fact that the persians once ruled over most of the middle east, and that Persepolis was the capital of an empire who was going from the border of India, to Europa.. If the greeks had known HOW huge the persian empire really was, when they told Xerxes to go F*** himself, they would more than posible have folded and hoped for the best.. With the result that mos of our history would have changed forever...

But thanks to the greeks, who either dosen't have the right clue of how big the Persian empire really was, or could not care either, in the end they at least surived even tho it also started the decline of greek dominanse in the whole area.. And in the end, the free states of Greek was dominated by forreign forces.. As the Makedones and after them, the romans..

Diclotican

[BrklynLiberal]

17. Alexander the Great.

[Diclotican]

18. BrklynLiberal

BrklynLiberal

True, Alexander the great was a man who by education at least, was greek, but by birth, makedonian.. But it was not Alexander who got the makedonians really interesting in gree affairs, it was his father Phillip 2 of Macedonia, who really got him interesting in the gree afairs, first becouse he admired the greeks, but also becouse he wanted to BE a greek, even tho he speak greek with a makedonian dialect, and also by actions was less than greek in style..

But even tho the old Greek, city states, was dead, the culture, was well alive, and was grown into what is called the Hellenic culture was well alive, and indeed changed the whole middle east/africa and european culture to a whole.. Alexander the Great was maybe not the emperor he wanted to be, as he died long before he could posible have made the whole concept livable.. And we know how the empire of Alexander ended, partet out in fircy enmey empires, who was more willing to fight eatch other, than to work togheter for a common goal.. Think what the kindoms of that era should posible manage to do, if they had worked togheter... And not to say, the romans would never had the posibility to do as they did in the eastern middle ocean, becouse the empires with their ressourses would fight them nail and tail

But as the history was, the empire of the east, was taken by the romans, and was transforming not just the different states there, but in many ways also changed the history, culture and the history of the west too.. Europe, and the west would not be the same, if it was not for the greeks, the romans, the jews and the christians.. Not even the same withouth islam by the way..

Diclotican

[BrklynLiberal]

20. i metnioned Alexander the Great as an example of Persian greatness, not Greek.

Sorry I did not make that clearer.

Are you a history teacher..or just interested in history?

[Diclotican]

21. BrklynLiberal

BrklynLiberal

Ah I see;)

Not a history teacher, even tho I can step in as an subsistute sometimes:P.. Just a history buff.

Diclotican

[Enrique]

3. snazzy propaganda photo for Operation Continuing Promise

http://sanjose.usembassy.gov/

[IndianaGreen]

4. US: 'We Come in Peace'

[RandomThoughts]

6. Thanks for the chuckle.

Loved that movie.


Funny thing, that movie can be seen on many levels. It has the Mars versus Venus. Or soldier versus servant (not gender related but conceptual)

Pyramid and V .... M V Mars Venus.

Here is the interesting part, the singing explodes the martian heads, although it is Swiss Yoda-ling, which is neutral, or not for attack, or is not fighting the battle, or playing the game. Which comes full circle to the Eagles in Tolkien lore, which are neutral.

And how do you be neutral, by being somewhere in the middle and just talk about it without taking a side based on judgment knowing each side has its own faults, or being in balance. Thats how I see that.

So that is just great, although I think V heads sometimes pop also. So :shrug:



And to be fair to M Really M is just an inclusive V anyways, so love them too |V| :)

And that explains the walls coming down.

[Dr.Phool]

10. Not Swiss yodeling, Slim Whitman.

TV ads for his albums caused a lot of heads to explode in the '70s.

I think he was a Grand Ole Opry performer. And I used to have a shirt that said, "Who The Fuck Is Slim Whitman, Anyway?"

[RandomThoughts]

13. hmm, I thought I remembered yodaling in that.

Might have to check the original, think I remember some yodaling in one of the scenes.


Why???? Slim Whitman, is not the fat man of coarse.

Could have gone all the way back to Paul Newman in the Hustler, in that comment.

[kenny blankenship]

5. Costa Rica represents an intolerable existential threat to the United States, because

because, they have to be brought into the family of democratic nations that don't make war on other democracies - that is unless they really feel they need to, and feel they have nothing to lose due to the vast asymmetry of power between them. Besides, they know what they did! And that is why the use of force - force I say not aggression is warranted in the case of Costa Rica.

Sneer if you want. Beats the explanation you'll get from the Pentagon and State Dept.

[classysassy]

19. Costa Rica

does not have a standing army,why are you in that area,maybe looking for another military base,so we can protect them? Could it be those Costa Ricans have discovered our oil inside their country?

[Turbineguy]

7. Maxwell Smart

must be up to something.

[CanonRay]

8. Doesn't Costa Rica have better health care than us?

Maybe they should send the ships to New Orleans.

[Arctic Dave]

9. Charm them, start a military economy and then get them hooked on the MIC money.

Then they will become like any other us city with a military base, "we can't let them leave, the economy will tank".

[Dr.Phool]

11. Hey, how about bringing some free health care, engineering projects, veterinary attention,

To America?

[Judi Lynn]

12. Now there's an idea! It reminds me that we don't get the same deal the Cuban immigrants get

from the U.S. government: U.S. taxpayer-funded Section 8 housing, food stamps, welfare, free medical treatment, and financial assistance for education, and other benefits!

That arrangement, through the U.S.'s Cuban Adjustment Act is created to attract Cuban nationals to immigrate to the U.S. and get hooked up with all the conveniences of home!

It all came roaring back when I saw your post.

They really could do us all some favors by spreading that largesse around right HERE!