November 13, 2014
Is Afghanistan better or worse off after 13 years war?
The Heat hosted a panel of experts to discuss the country’s future:
Vermont senator: Medicare issue hurting Shumlin administration
Posted By Bruce Parker On November 12, 2014 @ 9:52 am
MEDICARE MESS: Outgoing Democratic state Sen. Peter Galbraith (right) says Gov. Peter Shumlin’s handling of Medicare is causing anxiety among seniors.
“Senior citizens worry about changes to their standard of living. The easiest thing in the world would have been to say don’t worry. But instead we didn’t, and frankly I think that’s the reason the governor nearly lost,” state Sen. Peter Galbraith, D-Windham, told Vermont Watchdog.
Smuggling fuel is easier in a city like Erbil than smuggling oil. “If you’re smuggling crude oil, you have to smuggle a large quantity of it to get value. It’s not like diamonds,” says Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador to Croatia who advises the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. “That’s why it’s better to have a pipeline. Now, if you’re taking a refined product like diesel or some other fuel, then it is possible to transport and sell it in small amounts.”
Galbraith is pessimistic. His biggest concern is the lack of a ground army powerful enough to defeat ISIS—apart from that of the U.S., whose engagement at ground level has been strictly ruled out by President Barack Obama. “When I look at ISIS, I don’t see them becoming one of the great societies of the Middle East. On the other hand, I don’t see them being defeated either,” he said. “We may be able to contain them, but it is hard to see who is going to overtake them.”
Peter W Galbraith 