At the beginning of last month we indicated that there might be more issues that would arise in the mid-June time period, with the continuing pressure on the U.S. Midheaven, or MC (Medium Coeli) and also on Venus, the MC ruler. In fact we stated that the ongoing severity of these transits “indicates a rough ride for the U.S government, possibly in connection with military operations, as the events of this climactic year continue to unfold.” Of course the big news last month in that area was the surprising and sudden resignation of General McChrystal, both United States and NATO commander for the coalition forces in Afghanistan, after a raucous Rolling Stone article aired his comments of insubordination and lack of regard for his commander-in-chief. It is instructive to take a look at the transits to the U.S. chart for that day, June 23rd.

What was unique in that day’s transits as opposed to rest of the the month’s were of course the fast-moving positions of Sun and Moon, and with the rest of the personal planets The Sun was at 2 degrees of Cancer, therefore exactly square to the U.S. Midheaven, and also conjoining U.S. Venus. This, in and of itself, is of course not a major transit, but it is a triggering factor in coordination with the Cardinal T-square that hits this same set of sensitive points. Uranus and Jupiter are currently and were then opposed and Pluto square to the U.S. MC at 2 degrees of Libra, while Saturn draws neigh. The Uranus-Jupiter conjunction was in fact still quite close, with Jupiter only a few minutes of a degree away from its opposition to U.S MC. The Moon, in the last degree of Scorpio, made a sesquiquadrate aspect that morning to U.S. Sun, during the fateful meeting between McChrystal and president Obama. The Moon also squared transiting Neptune within a degree, which even now remains in close conjunction with U.S. Moon, representing the public. Even transiting Mercury, Venus and Mars got into the act. Transiting Venus was sextile U.S. Uranus, an indication of the suddenness of this event, while also making an exact septile to U.S. Midheaven. Mars exactly squared U.S. Uranus. Mercury, representing the media, trined U.S. Moon within a degree. With the Afghanistan war in question anyway, and the purported timetable for withdrawal only a year off, the firing of its leader became a media circus.

With Neptune so clearly in the picture of these transits, since it currently conjoins U.S. Moon, the element of deception becomes a possible issue. Was there anything about this event that was not strictly out in the open? There has of course been speculation that McChrystal’s political suicide in the Rolling Stone Magazine article was, rather than a collection of chance remarks, more precisely an exit strategy from an unwinnable war. His letter of resignation in his hand, he traveled stateside for his meeting with the president already packed and ready to leave the Afghanistan theater; he has now announced his retirement. In the midst of all this public drama, what is also called into question is an increasingly unpopular strategy for winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan while defeating an elusive and entrenched enemy, even as civilian causalities continue to mount. This particular conflict in fact evokes many comparisons to the Vietnam War era, when a similar contrast of goals was very much in the news. It seems that the political solution that President Obama has called for, and constantly emphasizes, must be somehow reconciled with the brute force represented by military action. So the entire motivation for this war of perhaps invasion is very cloudy.

Neptune emerges from his current close collision with U.S. Moon and enters Pisces, his own sign, in the spring of 2011, and this might well indicate that this would be a time for new developments in this area of the public perception of the Afghan war. This is also when the current timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces is just about to begin.

In this next month of the summer of 2010, the Cardinal T-square gets even more intense, especially within the July 4th – July 11th period and also with the Full Moon of July 25th. Further events that shake up the established leadership and power of America vis-à-vis the world are quite likely to result.