History Repeating

Ron Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

"Despite Obama’s assurances that U.S. military action won’t involve 'boots on the ground,' Paul warned about the human cost of 'so many more lives lost than [lawmakers] are anticipating. They think they can predict these things, but there is a cost – the cost of life and limb, the cost of freedoms at home because of a war atmosphere.' 'Just because one cruise missile might cost one-and-a-half million dollars –there are a lot more expenses involved' in any military strike, said Ron Paul. 'It will be easy [for costs] to go much, much higher.' He compared the difference in costs in the Iraq War: 'It was estimated to cost $60 billion – and it turned out to be into the trillions.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

Three major fault lines in Syria! Will they explode?

"Fault line #1 is the millennial conflict between Shia and Sunni, dating back to the death of Muhammad in the year 632. Fault line #2 is the battle between Muslim fundamentalism and modernism, between those who seek a return to the Middle Ages and those who wish to move forward into the Third Millennium. Fault line #3 is the biggest of all, also cutting through Syria. I’m talking about the West vs. the East, especially the U.S. and Western Europe against Russia and China. In sum, today’s Syria is both the metaphor and the crossroads for multidimensional political and economic earthquakes that can reverberate across most of the region and much of the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThree major fault lines in Syria! Will they explode?

Justin Raimondo: We Beat the War Party – For Now …

"Facts on the ground have little impact on the course of American foreign policy. It’s really all about politics on the home front. The Iraq war had nothing to do with the threat of Al Qaeda, in spite of the Bush administration’s war propaganda: it was all about building domestic support for the GOP around a program of war hysteria, the mystic doctrine of 'American exceptionalism,' and untrammeled foreign adventurism. So too in the case of Syria, but this time things turned out differently: the War Party ran up against a brick wall of public opposition – and real outrage that the political class would even try something like this after a decade of war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustin Raimondo: We Beat the War Party – For Now …

Kerry: Arab countries offered to pay for Syria invasion

"Secretary of State John Kerry said at Wednesday’s hearing that Arab counties have offered to pay for the entirety of unseating President Bashar al-Assad if the United States took the lead militarily. 'With respect to Arab countries offering to bear costs and to assess, the answer is profoundly yes,' Kerry said. 'They have. That offer is on the table.' Asked by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) about how much those countries would contribute, Kerry said they have offered to pay for all of a full invasion. 'In fact, some of them have said that if the United States is prepared to go do the whole thing the way we’ve done it previously in other places, they’ll carry that cost,' Kerry said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry: Arab countries offered to pay for Syria invasion

Listen to Patraeus?

"Remember General David Patraeus? The guy who claimed that as soon as his brilliant comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy (COIN) was implemented in Afghanistan the US would emerge victorious? The 'maverick savior of Iraq' as he was christened by neocon historian Viktor David Hanson? Anyone notice how Iraq and Afghanistan are doing these days? After two colossal failures, Patraeus has crawled out from under his rock of shame to again take up the cause of war-promotion. Heartily endorsing President Obama’s request for authorization to use force on Syria, Patraeus betrays the real prize in the sights of the Syria war-promoters: Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingListen to Patraeus?

Interventionists Should Hang Their Heads in Shame

"Never mind the disastrous consequences of such notable post-World War II interventions as Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea. It’s clear, at least to interventionists, that Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad, is another Hitler who, unless punished for his purported use of chemical weapons, will begin conquering countries in the Middle East, work his way over to Europe, cross the Atlantic and invade Argentina, sweep northward through Central America and Mexico, and finally invade and conquer the United States, enabling Syrian officials to begin running the IRS, the DEA, the ICE, the public schools, the Interstate Highway System, and other attributes of America’s free way of life." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInterventionists Should Hang Their Heads in Shame

Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War [2012]

"As the US and Iranian governments escalate tensions in the already volatile Straits of Hormuz, and China and Russia begin openly questioning Washington's interference in their internal politics, the world remains on a knife-edge of military tension. Far from being a dispassionate observer of these developments, however, the media has in fact been central to increasing those tensions and preparing the public to expect a military confrontation. But as the online media rises to displace the traditional forms by which the public forms its understanding of the world, many are now beginning to see first hand how the media lies the public into war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFaking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War [2012]

Eric Margolis: Syrian March To Disaster

"Politicians invoke credibility as a excuse after they have made a huge blunder –notably Obama’s foolish 'red lines' in Syria that boxed the president into a corner of his own making. What we are seeing is the latest, 21st century version of the new era of colonialism and imperialism, with a touch of Crusader zeal thrown in. Today, the favored euphemism is humanitarian intervention, but the song remains the same. Syria is not about poison gas or human rights: it’s about a proxy war against Iran, the only nation now challenging total US and Israel military domination of the Mideast. For France, it’s about reasserting its former colonial rule in Syria and Lebanon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Margolis: Syrian March To Disaster

Blackstone rental bonds revive fears of mortgage-backed crisis

"The private-equity firm Blackstone and Deutsche Bank are considering selling the first bonds backed by home-rental payments. The new security shows Wall Street financial engineering, blamed for deepening the financial crisis, has become more creative. Blackstone is among the firms that have spent billions buying homes out of foreclosure, helping to bolster demand and strengthen the US housing market, the WSJ reports. The private-equity giant has spent $5.5bn buying more than 30,000 houses to rent out. It is now working with Deutsche Bank to create securities tied to about 1,500 of the properties to form a rental bond deal worth up to $275 million." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBlackstone rental bonds revive fears of mortgage-backed crisis