Mitchell said...Edgar's link is temporarily not working, but you can still find Engdahl's essay at Asia Times, and elsewhere.
I do not think that even Engdahl says that "it was outside influences that got the unrest started". Price rises are always good for an angry mob, especially in a place where the state owns everything. And people do not need the US State Department's go-ahead before they start using digital media to smuggle out words and images of a crackdown. (I note that he overlooked "Blog about a blog about a blog about a blog", in his catalog of made-in-USA subversive institutions.)
There are a few other potentially misleading items I can see. The IMF today is far from being the government-toppling economic enforcer it was in Indonesia ten years ago. And "Malabar 07" only got underway four weeks after the demonstrations started. So I would be very cautious in adopting Engdahl's interpretation of world events. (For a further example, go to his website and see his "ex peak oil" essay, especially his remarks about Russian "abiotic oil" expertise being the prize in the Yukos affair.)
October 16, 2007 6:09 PM
