hypocrisy

Nine Reasons Why Bombing Syria Is Not an Act of Justice

"If the U.S. unilaterally bombs Syria, it can’t possibly be an act of neutral justice in response to a chemical attack. Why not? Several reasons. (1) The U.S. has supported anti-Assad (anti-Syrian) rebel forces against Assad for several years. (2) The U.S. has not been a neutral presence in that region since 1919. [..] (3) The U.S. has selected immediate violence as a response without taking the time to pursue other remedies. (4) The U.S. is threatening to act on incomplete information. (5) The existing framework of international law doesn’t allow for unilateral bombing by the U.S. or any other state. (6) Any attack may kill and wound innocent Syrians. [..] " Continue reading →

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Obama’s Latest Arguments Do Not Hold Water

"Obama declares that the U.S. membership in the UN and solemn agreement to its Charter is irrelevant. He does not intend to abide by the agreement and thus international law. What messages does this declaration send? Obama is saying he’ll break or adhere to a compact on a selective basis as he pleases. Next week, he might support a UN action and the following week not. In this same speech, Obama says 'We cannot raise our children in a world where we will not follow through on the things we say, the accords we sign,…' He doesn’t seem to realize that his statement about going it alone regardless of the U.N. smashes that accord that the U.S. signed." Continue reading →

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The US Uses Gas To Kill Civilians

"The US government itself has used similar weapons openly as recently as the FBI/ATF attack on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco Texas in the spring of 1993. While domestic and world reaction to the Davidian massacre ranged from shock to horror, in 1993 there were no bellicose calls for military attack on the US by other nations for this blatant violation of the rules of war, the Geneva Conventions, and legal due process. France, Britain, China and Russia did not propose UN authorization for military retaliation. Nor did the US government ever apologize but instead gave medals and honors to the government killers responsible for these horrific deaths." Continue reading →

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Eric Margolis: Another Jolly Little War

"The US, Britain, Italy and Germany exported chemical weapons plants and raw material to Iraq that produced Sarin nerve gas and burning mustard gas. Many thousands of Iranian soldiers were killed, horribly burned or blinded by these western-supplied weapons. So a little less western moral outrage, please, particularly from the Brits whose own sainted Winston Churchill authorized the use of poison gas against rebellious Iraqi and Afghan tribesmen. North Vietnam was drenched with the toxic Agent Orange, the resisting Iraq city of Falluja was showered by white phosphorous, Iraq was permanently contaminated by radioactive depleted uranium. These foul weapons also kill babies." Continue reading →

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$652 million project ‘GENIE’: U.S. conducted 231 ‘offensive cyberoperations’

"The revelation is based on a classified intelligence budget provided to the paper by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, as well as on interviews. Under a $652 million project code-named 'GENIE,' US specialists hack foreign computer networks to secretly put them under American control. This involves placing 'covert implants' in computers, routers and firewalls, it said, adding that by year’s end 'GENIE' is projected to control at least 85,000 'malware' plug-ins in machines around the globe. US intelligence services make 'routine use' of government-constructed malware around the globe that 'differs little in function from the ‘advanced persistent threats’ that US officials attribute to China.'" Continue reading →

Continue Reading$652 million project ‘GENIE’: U.S. conducted 231 ‘offensive cyberoperations’

Snowden reveals US intelligence’s black budget: $52.6 billion on secret programs

"Despite the hefty cost of operating the secret operations amid sequestration, excerpts from the summary leaked by Snowden show that the US still has significant setbacks keeping it from achieving its intelligence goals. For one, the disclosure in and of itself demonstrates the intelligence community’s inability to prevent sensitive information from being leaked. For those nations of upmost interest, the intelligence community is investing heavily on 'offensive cyber operations' launched by the CIA and NSA to hack foreign competitors, steal data and sabotage servers, at a time when, domestically, so-called cybercriminals are prosecuted at an alarming rate for comparably less harsh crimes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden reveals US intelligence’s black budget: $52.6 billion on secret programs

The NSA and Its “Compliance Problems”

"For ordinary citizens, 'compliance problems' with the law are better known as 'crimes' (or possibly civil wrongs) and these lead to judgment debts, fines, and possibly even jail time, depending on the severity of the lack-of-compliance. But for government officials such notions are irrelevant — legal compliance problems are just something you file a report about, and send to another bureaucrat higher up in the government chain, so that he can bury it on his desk. Unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon. The notion of the rule of law is the wellspring of an endless stream of hypocrisy in the modern social-democratic welfare-warfare state." Continue reading →

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John Kerry’s Tender Sensibilities

"In response to Bashir Assad’s crossing of a 'red line' by allegedly using chemical weapons against his own people, Secretary of State John Kerry cites his own fatherly feelings as justification for the all-but-inevitable looming US military intervention in Syria. 'As a father, I can’t get the image out of my head, of a father who held up his dead child, wailing …' Hopefully CNN will try extra hard to sanitize the war footage from Syria once the bombing starts, now that we know how badly dead Syrian kids upset Kerry. Because there are a lot more dead Syrian kids on the way. This is the same John Kerry who served in Vietnam, and who backed two attacks on Iraq and one on Afghanistan, is it not?" Continue reading →

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John Kerry’s Tender Sensibilities

"In response to Bashir Assad’s crossing of a 'red line' by allegedly using chemical weapons against his own people, Secretary of State John Kerry cites his own fatherly feelings as justification for the all-but-inevitable looming US military intervention in Syria. 'As a father, I can’t get the image out of my head, of a father who held up his dead child, wailing …' Hopefully CNN will try extra hard to sanitize the war footage from Syria once the bombing starts, now that we know how badly dead Syrian kids upset Kerry. Because there are a lot more dead Syrian kids on the way. This is the same John Kerry who served in Vietnam, and who backed two attacks on Iraq and one on Afghanistan, is it not?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry’s Tender Sensibilities

John Kerry’s Tender Sensibilities

"In response to Bashir Assad’s crossing of a 'red line' by allegedly using chemical weapons against his own people, Secretary of State John Kerry cites his own fatherly feelings as justification for the all-but-inevitable looming US military intervention in Syria. 'As a father, I can’t get the image out of my head, of a father who held up his dead child, wailing …' Hopefully CNN will try extra hard to sanitize the war footage from Syria once the bombing starts, now that we know how badly dead Syrian kids upset Kerry. Because there are a lot more dead Syrian kids on the way. This is the same John Kerry who served in Vietnam, and who backed two attacks on Iraq and one on Afghanistan, is it not?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry’s Tender Sensibilities