Bullshit Artists

Official: Potential Syria strikes could include long-range bombers

"Aircraft including long-range bombers may be used in any eventual strike on Syria, but 'that does not fundamentally change the parameters of the mission,' a U.S. official said. The official was responding to a report from ABC News' Jonathan Karl that said the U.S. attack plan for Syria could potentially include missiles fired from B-2 and B-52 bombers flying from the United States. The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, has reported that the Pentagon was preparing to employ greater firepower to reach shifting military targets. The revised options under development include the use of Air Force bombers to supplement U.S. destroyers in the Mediterranean, the newspaper said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Potential Syria strikes could include long-range bombers

U.S. Navy: Cost of strikes against Syria ‘nagging’ but not ‘extraordinary’

"The cost of possible military strikes against Syria would not be 'extraordinary,' the US Navy chief said Thursday, downplaying the potential price tag of the operation. The Navy currently has four destroyers in the Mediterranean ready if called upon as well as the aircraft carrier Nimitz and accompanying warships in the Red Sea. It was the first time a senior US military officer had openly acknowledged the Obama administration was considering using Tomahawk missiles in a strike against Syria, though officials had privately leaked that possibility previously. The Pentagon’s estimates are apparently based on the assumption that any intervention would last no longer than a few days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Navy: Cost of strikes against Syria ‘nagging’ but not ‘extraordinary’

Pot Apocalypse Looms, Marijuana Foes Warn

"Not everybody is happy with Thursday's Justice Department announcement that it would not interfere with taxed, regulated, and legalized marijuana in Colorado and Washington. While the announcement was greeted with accolades (and some questions) by the drug policy reform community, opponents of marijuana law reform were up in arms and prophesying hellfire and damnation. Despite the bitter disappointment of the prohibitionists, marijuana law reform is moving forward, and the momentum is only likely to accelerate in the years to come. We may see in a few years if their dire warnings are correct -- if the country is still standing, that is." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPot Apocalypse Looms, Marijuana Foes Warn

New documentary puts Donald Rumsfeld on the hotseat about Iraq

"Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld wriggles out of straight answers on the Iraq war in Errol Morris’s new documentary, screening in Venice Wednesday. 'The Unknown Known' takes its title from a 2002 speech Rumsfeld gave to justify the invasion. Asked at the time whether Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction, he replied that there are 'things we do not know we don’t know.' In the film, Morris repeatedly attempts to quiz Rumsfeld on this and other decisions taken by a man accused of disastrous mismanagement of the war and condoning policies on interrogation which led to cases of extreme abuse of prisoners." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew documentary puts Donald Rumsfeld on the hotseat about Iraq

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

John Kerry invokes apocalyptic ‘domino theory’ in call with House Democrats

"In a Labor Day conference call with 127 House Democrats, Secretary of State John Kerry invoked an apocalyptic scenario, summoning visions of American power and credibility incinerated in a terrible Middle East-wide conflagration laced with nerve gas and enriched uranium. Kerry warned that the failure to punish Bashar Al-Assad for using chemical weapons on Syrian civilians could lead to future chemical attacks on Israel and Turkey, emboldening Iran to forge ahead with an alleged nuclear weapons program and perhaps even enter the battlefield in support of Syria. Next, Kerry hammered on the Holocaust, declaring that the US faced a 'Munich moment' on Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry invokes apocalyptic ‘domino theory’ in call with House Democrats

Selling Syria: White House pleads with Congress for ‘limited’ strikes

"On Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry plead his case on why the US should launch limited attacks on Syria in retaliation for Pres. Bashar al-Assad's alleged use of chemical weapons on his own people. According to Kerry, not stepping in would only embolden other countries with weapons of mass destruction, and senators expressed their concerns that getting involved in Syria would only lead to another endless war in the Middle East. Sam Sacks is on Capitol Hill with a summary of the day's events." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSelling Syria: White House pleads with Congress for ‘limited’ strikes

Rep. Cantor Steals Condi Rice’s Iraq Lines for Syria

"Today House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) directly channeled then-President Bush’s National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, spouting the same lying propaganda to get us into Syria that Rice spouted to get us into Iraq. Leader Cantor today: 'No one wants to be asking why we failed to act if the next time Sarin is used it is in the Paris or New York subway.' Condoleeza Rice, Sept 8, 2002: 'The problem here is that there will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he can acquire nuclear weapons. But we don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRep. Cantor Steals Condi Rice’s Iraq Lines for Syria

Kerry After Syria Hearing Protest: ‘I Once Had Very Similar Feelings’

"'The first time I testified before this committee when I was 27 years old, I had feelings very similar to that protester,' Kerry said after order was restored. 'I would just say that is exactly why it is so important that we are all here having this debate, talking about these things before the country and that the Congress itself will act representing the American people. And I think we can all respect those who have a different point of view. And we do.' Kerry said a Syria strike would 'unequivocally' make the U.S. more secure, and Hagel said there are U.S. allies in the region ready to support any U.S. action." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry After Syria Hearing Protest: ‘I Once Had Very Similar Feelings’