Monthly Archives: September 2013

Assad ally said to defect, Putin chides U.S. on Syria

"President Bashar al-Assad's former defense minister has fled Syria, opposition figures said on Wednesday, noting that General Ali Habib was the most senior of Assad's Alawite sect to defect. Habib had been under house arrest since resigning in protest at Assad's crackdown on demonstrators in 2011 but had managed to reach the Turkish border late on Tuesday with Western help, Kamal al-Labwani of the Syrian National Coalition told Reuters. Putin again questioned Western evidence. And he accused U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry outright of 'lying' when, in urging Congress to approve strikes on Syria, Kerry played down the role of al Qaeda in the rebel forces." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAssad ally said to defect, Putin chides U.S. on Syria

Syria’s Game of Thrones: Obama backs Al Qaida and the Chechen terrorists

"It’s worth noting that, as America backs the Saudis, and they back Al Qaida and the Chechen terrorists, through its relationship with the House of Saud, America is actually helping to fund terrorism against both Russia and itself. The moral implications are far greater than any inaction in Syria. Involvement in Syria will support Saudi Arabia more than it does anyone else in the region, or indeed the world. The Russians have every right to be skeptical of the Saudis, just as the US has every right to be skeptical of Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria’s Game of Thrones: Obama backs Al Qaida and the Chechen terrorists

Tell Congress: Don’t Attack Syria

"The Administration is considering intervening in the Syrian civil war. We oppose this. There's no vital national security involved. We are not the world’s policeman, nor its judge and jury. Our own needs in America are great, and they come first. The death of civilians is always regrettable, and civil war is regrettable, but no Americans have been attacked, and no American allies have been attacked. The British Parliament understandably has voted not to join in any attack. Notably, defense contractor Raytheon's stock is up 20% in the last 60 days. It seems that nobody wants US intervention in Syria except the military-industrial complex. I oppose US military intervention in Syria. Join me." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTell Congress: Don’t Attack Syria

Human shield formed to protect Syria from military action

"Syrians from all walks of life have joined a human shield campaign to help protect the country from potential foreign military action. A group of people, including artists and athletes, participated in the campaign dubbed 'Over our Dead Bodies' on Monday. The participants are shielding key facilities in the capital, Damascus, pledging to stand their ground until the military threats are stopped or they are killed. The organizers of the campaign said that they have received calls from all over the world asking for permission to join the movement. The campaign comes as amid threats of foreign military intervention in Syria." Continue reading →

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N.Y. Times scraps AIPAC from Syria story

"A reference to the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC was mysteriously cut from a New York Times article published online Monday and in print Tuesday. The first version, published online Monday, quotes an anonymous administration official calling AIPAC the '800-pound gorilla in the room.' The original article, which is still available on The Boston Globe's site, had two paragraphs worth of quotes from officials about the powerful lobbying group's position in the Syria debate. The newer version makes no reference to AIPAC and does not include an editor's note explaining any change." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingN.Y. Times scraps AIPAC from Syria story

AIPAC comes out for strike on Syria, mentions Iran more often than Syria

"As NJ Senator Robert Menendez said at the Kerry hearing today in the Senate, Syria is about Iran. And it is for AIPAC too. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee broke its silence today, urging a vote for the Syrian strike. AIPAC was lying low. That was what everyone said. So: Who called AIPAC? And: why does Obama need AIPAC? Could it be because AIPAC can get 70 Senators’ signatures on a napkin in 24 hours? Also, if the Tea Party is so 'isolationist,' as the media keep insisting, then why is Marco Rubio gungho on a Syria attack? Does it have anything to do with presidential ambitions?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAIPAC comes out for strike on Syria, mentions Iran more often than Syria

Sheldon Adelson Becomes Obama Ally as Jewish Groups Back Syria Strike

"Lobbying on Syria has inspired coalitions of the unlikely, aligning President Barack Obama with Sheldon Adelson, the Republican billionaire who spent about $70 million trying to defeat him last year, in the push for a military response to the use of chemical weapons. The support Obama is getting from pro-Israel groups in the U.S. is important because of their history of political influence. The pro-Israel community contributed $14.5 million to federal campaigns for the 2012 elections, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That’s more than the $11.1 million in donations by the defense aerospace industry, one of the biggest and most consistent political contributors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheldon Adelson Becomes Obama Ally as Jewish Groups Back Syria Strike

Kerry’s Morally, Linguistically, and Historically Obscene Case for War in Syria

"Unfortunately for the politician who made famous the line 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?', Kerry's case in front of the committee was more a textbook example of how acting as the world's policeman for decades has warped the country's values, judgment, and even language. I counted at least seven moments that qualified in my judgment as obscene, exposing along the way the administration's empty and contradictory arguments for air-mailing death upon a regime that does not pose a direct threat in the United States." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry’s Morally, Linguistically, and Historically Obscene Case for War in Syria

How Intelligence Was Twisted to Support an Attack on Syria

"Secretary of State John Kerry assured the public that the Obama administration's summary of the intelligence on which it is basing the case for military action to punish the Assad regime for an alleged use of chemical weapons was put together with an acute awareness of the fiasco of the 2002 Iraq WMD intelligence estimate. Nevertheless, the unclassified summary of the intelligence assessment made public August 30, 2013, utilizes misleading language evocative of the infamous Iraq estimate's deceptive phrasing. The document displays multiple indications that the integrity of the assessment process was seriously compromised." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Intelligence Was Twisted to Support an Attack on Syria

Ex-CIA Agent Philip Giraldi on Syria War

"Philip Giraldi, executive director of The Council for the National Interest, discusses Gareth Porter’s debunking of US 'intelligence' supporting an attack on Syria; reports that the Syrian rebels accidentally set off deadly chemical weapons from the Saudis; why Secretary of State John Kerry can’t possibly know the casualty figures in Syria – no matter how confidently he states them; and AIPAC’s full-court press on Congress to get another war started in the Middle East." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEx-CIA Agent Philip Giraldi on Syria War