Middle East

House Republican Claims Reagan Stood Up To Chemical Weapons Use

"Ronald Reagan did exactly the opposite. For the majority of the 1980s, Iraq under Saddam Hussein was locked in combat with the Islamic Republic of Iran in a war that killed more than 1,000,000 people on both sides. The United States explicitly backed the secular Hussein over the Ayatollah Khomeini’s government in Tehran, still smarting from the embassy hostage crisis that had only ended when Reagan took office. That backing not only included the shipment of tons of weapons to support Baghdad, but also looking the other way when Iraq unleashed its chemical weapons stockpiles — including sarin and mustard gas — against Iranian civilians and soldiers alike." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouse Republican Claims Reagan Stood Up To Chemical Weapons Use

Syrian Islamist extremists in the opposition prepare for US missile strike

"In a statement disseminated on the Twitter account of one of its supporters, the radical group Fateh al-Islam offered advice to Islamists, warning that for every U.S. missile that hits a regime target, another will strike a jihadi base. 'Start changing your locations, and use safe houses, and don’t move around in obvious convoys,' said the supporter, Abdullah Saker, detailing precautionary measures. 'Take away mobile phones from the troops, and send them away from the leadership.' 'America destroyed jihadi bases in a very short period of time in Afghanistan and Iraq, and killed a large number of them, because they weren’t prepared. So don’t fall in the trap of laziness,' he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyrian Islamist extremists in the opposition prepare for US missile strike

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’

The Costs of War in Syria

"Politicians want a war to appear cheap, at least up front, while the bureaucrats want bigger budgets. Once the war starts, though, all bets are off, and any political or legal authorization given to the administration to wage war will be a de facto blank check for future unlimited outlays for occupation and conflict on an unlimited timeline. We’ve already seen this in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and while the two countries descended into chaos, the claim was made that since the U.S. regime had 'broken' Iraq and Afghanistan, the taxpayers were now on the hook to finance the 'fixing' of the broken countries. The regime knows that all it needs to do is start a war, and the money will begin to flow indefinitely." Continue reading →

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John Kerry, 1971: ‘I Don’t Think U.S. Can Apply Moralism Around The World’

"Taped on Nov 2, 1971. Five months before this show, WFB had taken as his text, for a commencement address at West Point, Mr. Kerry's sensational testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the barbarism of our activities in Vietnam. Neither host nor guest has changed his views since, but there is light as well as heat generated on Vietnam in particular and morality and foreign policy generally." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJohn Kerry, 1971: ‘I Don’t Think U.S. Can Apply Moralism Around The World’

UN seeks Syria peace talks amid military strike threat

""The United Nations is making a desperate new push for a Syria peace conference even as the United States prepares a possible military strike, according to diplomats. UN Under Secretary General Jeffrey Feltman discussed a possible conference during a landmark visit last week to Iran, a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad, UN officials and diplomats said. The prospect of a military strike and Syria’s divided opposition, which has demanded that Assad be kept out of any transitional government, bears heavily on the prospects for talks however. Some western leaders believe there can be no conference until Assad has been punished for his alleged use of chemical weapons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN seeks Syria peace talks amid military strike threat

Jon Stewart to McCain: Does war with Syria interrupt video poker time?

"'Is this possible global conflagration interrupting your video poker time?' Stewart mockingly asked McCain, pointing out that the senator has been pushing for the U.S. to attack Syria for a year, only to devote the moment to picking up an imaginary winning hand. Stewart also pointed out that the U.S. has tried seemingly everything with regards to the Middle East: dialogue (every 8 years or so), sanctions, explicit and not-so-explicit rewarding of coups. 'It’s like, even though we’re a superpower, we haven’t figured out that we don’t actually have superpowers,' Stewart said. 'But we just keep jumping out of the building, thinking we’re gonna fly.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJon Stewart to McCain: Does war with Syria interrupt video poker time?

Judge Napolitano: Can America bomb and kill for bragging rights?

"President Obama’s request for express congressional authorization for a limited aerial invasion of Syria raises profound legal and constitutional questions. For starters, there is simply no legal basis in international law to support an American invasion of Syria. Yet, notwithstanding that, federal law permits the president to commit U.S. military forces anywhere he wants for up to 90 days, without express authorization from Congress. So, why did Obama ask for the authorization he surely knows he already has?" Continue reading →

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Obama’s Syrian Allies Bombard Christian Village

"Obama’s allies in Syria — those who will directly benefit from the coming US airstrikes — stepped up their genocide against Syrian Christians today, attacking Maaloula, a Christian village, indiscriminately using mortar shells fired from a hilltop above the village. According to the press report: 'Maaloula, a mountain village some 40 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Damascus, is home to about 2,000 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.' Will American Christians support a war for the genocide of Christians in Syria?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama’s Syrian Allies Bombard Christian Village

Pentagon in 2012: 75,000 troops needed to secure Syria chemical weapons

"Securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles and the facilities that produced them would likely require the U.S. to send more than 75,000 ground troops into the Middle Eastern country, MailOnline learned Wednesday. That estimate comes from a secret memorandum the U.S. Department of Defense prepared for President Obama in early 2012. U.S. Central Command arrived at the figure of 75,000 ground troops as part of a written series of military options for dealing with Bashar al-Assad more than 18 months ago, long before the U.S. confirmed internally that the Syrian dictator was using the weapons against rebel factions within his borders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon in 2012: 75,000 troops needed to secure Syria chemical weapons