Then the White House Intervenes

and through the Corps of Engineers, tells the pipeline construction company to back the fuck down.

Which... they may or may not do, depending on what they think they can/will get away with. Initial reports were confused, to say the least, as the intervention from On High was not expected once the court denied the temporary restraining order. Obviously, however, the White House and the Corps were prepared with a counter-move should the court deny the request for a halt to construction.

I haven't read the court's order, but reports of what was in it struck me as condescending and deliberately inflammatory. North Dakota's governor probably got a heads up as did the White House and so the National Guard was activated as a back up in case those Indians got more unruly than they already are. The white folks who run things up there are clearly scared to death of the Indians, and they are preparing to do battle, just like in the Old West when it was so necessary for the good of white folks to kill off the savages in their multitudes and to confine whatever remnants that might survive to prison camps called "reservations."

Sigh.

What wasn't expected at all was that the White House, though the Corps, would essentially call a halt to construction until certain unresolved issues could be hashed out. The initial confusion was over just  what had been ordered and what had been requested. Apparently the pipeline route is supposed to tunnel under the Missouri River just north of the present Standing Rock Sioux Reservation boundary. The Corps controls the river access and Lake Oahe at that point. The Corps has apparently been directed to refuse to issue required easements for the pipeline crossing until additional environmental studies are considered (not necessarily undertaken) and Native issues addressed. Then in the fall, the Corps is supposed to convene a meeting or meetings with interested Indian Nations to see how they would like to proceed on these matters -- given current legislation -- and to find out how the Corps can consult with them better in the future.

The Corps has requested that the pipeline company cease construction within 20 miles east and west of the river crossing, but it is powerless to order cessation.

This intervention has nothing at all to do with the cultural sites, burial grounds and so on that are said to be in the path of construction or have already been destroyed by the bulldozers. Apparently the court ruling dismisses those concerns. The environmental issues, however, have been a stronger argument against the pipeline all along, specifically with regard to the potential hazards to drinking water for millions should there be a break in the pipeline in or near the Missouri River.

There are thousands of Indians and allies gathered in the vicinity of the Standing Rock Reservation, and it is clear that the North Dakota authorities simply want them to go away. They are an impediment to the Advance of Civilization. As they have always been since the first White Man set eyes on Dakota Territory.

It appears that the white rulers of North Dakota are unable to get over theit essentially fearful and contemptuous point of view. Indians are still in the way of Progress, regardless of whether that so-called Progress has any utility in the vast eternal scheme and regardless of any ultimate disaster(s) that Progress may cause.

It's not so much a matter of agreeing with the Indians as it is respecting them and their point of view.

Too many white folks in positions of power simply aren't ready to do that or possibly they're not capable of doing that, though in this case, the Indians seem to be doing everything in their power to induce a white Awakening.

It's really been remarkable to watch. The Indians have the high road and they know it. In a way, it doesn't matter what the white rulers do. They're fundamentally in the wrong, and their errors will simply compound if they don't change their ways. The Indians are trying to bring them to consciousness -- nonviolently -- and they know the struggle may be futile, but it must be undertaken.

So we have what we've seen, a huge encampment, growing daily, of Indians and allies from all over North America, engaged in spiritual warfare with an enemy that is basically "unconsciousness." It's not against white people, in other words, as many of the allies encamped in North Dakota are white. It is against the unconsciousness of so many white people (and others, it's not just them) in power.

To my mind, it's a brilliant strategy.

What I've read says that the Indians intend to press this struggle no matter what the eventual outcome
of the pipeline issue. It is bigger than the pipeline and necessary.

So far, they seem to have "awakened" quite a few otherwise somnambulant Americans.

Good.

The Roadblock

Interesting developments on the Syria Front. Indeed, it makes one wonder if there isn't some other game being played here than simply wars and distractions and palace intrigues.

The Obama campaign to send Sadda... erm, Assad a "message" ground to a halt as the week came to a close. The British Parliament had said "no" to Blighty involvement in the operation; Hollande in France said he was eager to participate, but the French People said "non!" The Saudis suddenly put on the brakes. Even the always belligerent Israelis were skeptical of a Syrian operation at this time...

Obama went before the cameras -- once the protestors were removed from beyond the West Wing of the White House -- and said he was still ever-so-firm and ever-so-resolute, and he would put the question of further actions against Sadda... err, Assad to a Congressional vote, and the Congressional leaders said, "OK, we'll get back to you after our vay-kay, mkay?"

Yeah. Right.

Something -- ooou my, what could it be -- occurred between the Kerry Speech on Thursday and the Obama Apparition in the Rose Garden on Friday Saturday. There was an intervention of some sort by someone.

The very kind of intervention, if I may be so bold, that I and many others longed for to put the brakes on the misbegotten Imperial adventures of the Bush/Cheney Regime. The very kind of intervention that never came.

But last week, at the last moment, Somebody Who Matters said, "No. We're not going to do this thing now, maybe not ever."

Huh.

Who'd a thunk?

Of course many sabers were being rattled during the run up to the Aktion. Among them were Russian and Iranian sabers, direct threats to our client states of Israel and Saudi Arabia. If we were to "do" Syria -- at this time at any rate -- then there would be more than Hell to Pay, capice? Of course it's gangster business, but we've known that all along. The whole world has become a gangster world, hasn't it? Maybe it always was one.

Someone must have said, "You know, this could be serious."

Yes. Well.

So are all these Imperial aggressions. So are they all.

I guess we can return our focus to the NSA now.

Carry on.

Surely there will be a good story about Greenwald any minute now...
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UPDATE:  This is what they're saying happened to forestall the Syrian Aktion. Make of it what you will.

"Uncertainty" -- and The Libya Thing

What's going on in Libya is one of those Grand Mysteries of Empire that defy logic. The situation there was never apparently dire. It was just "uncertain."

And for some time now, Our Rulers have been obsessed with the notion that somehow "Uncertainty" is crimping their style and their pocketbooks, and the whole -- and only -- point of Government is to provide them (Our Rulers) with "Certainty" so that they may be comfortable in their own skins and reliably profitable as they scam the rest of humanity.

Simple.

So when things began to go south in Libya, the "Uncertainty" Principle was invoked, louder and louder, to justify military intervention. Well. Intervention. It was not entirely clear that those who were calling loudest for Intervention were aware that the kind of intervention they were calling for was actually a military intervention. It is not clear that these people understand even the most basic aspects of civilization, to tell you the truth.

Which gets us into another question of whether the Ruling Class is actually composed of ignorant and savage Barbarians. But that question will have to wait for another time.

Meanwhile, the Uncertainty in Libya filled the Rulers with dread. What if the Wrong People got hold of the Oil? You see? You see how awful it is? When rebellions erupt in Oil Rich regions, it becomes imperative to ensure that only the Right People have their grubby hands on the Oil Spigots. In Libya, the problem was that nobody knew who ultimately would have their hands on the Spigots, when and if they were turned on again, and that was intolerable.

Either the Madman Gadaffi would restore his authority and cooperation with his Oil Buddies, or the Unknown Rebels would win, with who knew what results?

Ergo, Intervention was imperative.

All the yabbering about "humanitarian" concerns is so much jejune palaver meant to mask the true nature of the mission: not to seize the Oil outright -- that's never necessary -- but only to ensure that it goes to market with as little hassle and interference as can be and that the profits from the sale of the Oil go to the Right People, not the wrong ones.

Under the circumstances, there are no "humanitarian" concerns at all.

The United States of America does not do "humanitarian interventions" in any case; we should be quite aware of that by now. The United States only does Interventions that enhance the pecuniary interests of the Government's sponsors. Unless those interests are served first and foremost, there will be no Intervention no matter how horrible the consequences for the Poor Devils on the ground.

So. What we're looking at with the Libya Thing is an Intervention intended to impose
Certainty on an Uncertain situation for the purpose of providing as much comfort and convenience to the Oil Oligarchs as possible.

That hundreds or thousands of Libyans will die in the process is of neither interest nor concern to those who must have Certainty.

Never was.