"As Congress prepares to consider a proposal for airstrikes in Syria against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, public sentiment is tilted against the idea. Protesters gathered to make their objections felt in the nation's capital this weekend, calling into question President Barack Obama's case that action is necessary to maintain international law, deter other 'bad actors' and protect American credibility." Continue reading →
"The 'estimable' men arguing for war in both Houses and before them are not on the people’s side. Never will be. For they do not accept that a just government’s duty is to its own citizens first. We have a solemn [negative] duty not to violate the rights of foreigners everywhere to life, liberty and property. But we have no duty to uphold their rights. Why? Because the ostensible upholding of the negative rights of the world’s citizens involves compromising the negative liberties of Americans – our lives, our liberties and our livelihoods. By this imperative, Kerry, Hagel, Dempsey, Kinzinger, the senior Republican flake from Arizona, the junior Jeff Flake from the same state, will never abide." Continue reading →
"Dennis Rodman has a road-map to peace: 'building trust and understanding through sport and cultural exchanges,' as he put it. It’s slow, laborious and precludes lobbing bombs at North Korea or depriving its poor, long-suffering people of contact with the world. Rodman says this about his frequent visits to Pyongyang: 'I know in time Americans will see I’m just trying to help us all get along and see eye to eye through basketball and with my friendship with Kim I know this will happen.' On the other hand, a woman of war has just issued forth in support of Barack Obama’s adventure in Syria. Hillary Clinton or Dennis Rodman for public office? I know what my choice would be." Continue reading →
"If there were ever reasons for other global actors to decide it is time to rid themselves of connections to the American state, it would seem now is as good a time as any. So again, what does this have to do with Syria? Syria offers an opportunity to get a peek at the answer to the question: will these non-Anglo power centers fall in line, or will they stand tall? Does the Anglo-American elite have the strings of the Chinese and Russian leaders (and the rest) or are the political leaders in these countries in a position to take a different path? In other words, this affair in Syria offers the possibility of a real inflection point in the big-game of global elite control." Continue reading →
"'We should bear in mind that the core principle of the United Nations Charter bars the threat or use of force. So all of this is criminal, to begin with, but he’ll continue with that.' 'The United States is a rogue state,' he averred. 'It doesn’t pay any attention to international law.' Furthermore, he said, '(t)his would be a perfect opportunity to ban chemical weapons, to impose the chemical weapons convention on the Middle East.' The U.S., of course, Chomsky noted, will never go along with that because of one nation in the Middle East 'which has chemical weapons and is in violation of the chemical weapons convention and has refused even to ratify it — namely Israel.'" Continue reading →
"In a setback for the United States’ attempts to isolate Iran, a European Union court threw out sanctions Friday on seven Iranian companies, including four banks, rejecting arguments that they were acting as front companies to bypass the punitive measures. The General Court in Brussels, the union’s second-highest tribunal, ruled that the bloc wrongly imposed sanctions against the Iranian companies as part of its efforts to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, a decision that immediately drew the ire of American officials. The United States Treasury took the opposite tack on Friday, imposing restrictions on a network of six individuals and four businesses for links to oil sales." Continue reading →
"Much as the strike may (or may not) weaken the Syrian armed forces and diminish its military capabilities, Kerry's capacity to be an effective secretary of state for the reminder of President Barack Obama's term may have been seriously 'degraded' already. The point is, over three full eventful years still remain in Obama's presidency and three years is a lot time in politics. Kerry's tragedy is that he is being called upon to defend an indefensible brief. Three major gaffes within the space of a week is a terrible record for a top diplomat to pile up under any circumstances." Continue reading →
"Not even the ghost of Machiavelli would come up with an adjective to describe the whole planet waiting in disbelief to see whether the almost universally despised House of Representatives (15% approval rating, according to RealClearPolitics) decides, Roman Empire style, to give the thumbs down and authorize the bombing of one of the oldest cities in humanity (well, they have an illustrious precedent of applauding Shock and Awe over Baghdad, which topped the Mongols going medieval in the 13th century). And all this against the will of the 'American people' who, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll support this folly by an overwhelming 9%. Yes We Bomb. But what for?" Continue reading →
"They are embarrassed to be associated with the amateurism of the Obama administration’s attempts to craft a plan that makes strategic sense. None of the White House staff has any experience in war or understands it. So far, at least, this path to war violates every principle of war, including the element of surprise, achieving mass and having a clearly defined and obtainable objective. They are repelled by the hypocrisy of a media blitz that warns against the return of Hitlerism but privately acknowledges that the motive for risking American lives is our 'responsibility to protect' the world’s innocents." Continue reading →
"Britain has faced questions about its role and influence in the world since Mr Cameron was embarrassed by last week’s Commons vote to rule out a military strike against Syria. Dmitry Peskov, Mr Putin’s official spokesman, is said to have highlighted that embarrassment, telling Russian journalists that Britain was now diplomatically irrelevant. Britain is 'just a small island … no one pays any attention to them', Mr Peskov is reported to have said. The blunt remarks appeared to realise British fears that the Russians would use the St Petersburg summit to upstage Mr Cameron over his criticism of Syria, Russia’s closest Middle Eastern ally." Continue reading →