Middle East

Bill Bonner: It’s about geo-politics!

"Syria's sovereign government is a sworn enemy to America's supposed enemy - terrorists. Yet, in solemn chutzpah, the US Security Council met to discuss ways to attack not the terrorists...but the government. Yes, the US now plans an act of war against yet another country in the Middle East...and another intervention of unknown cost and uncertain duration. Some would ask: 'haven't they learned anything from Iraq and Afghanistan?' But the questioners would be people who haven't learned anything themselves. America's military adventures have nothing to do with national security. They are now the exploits of a Pharisee industry, intended to protect the zombies." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: It’s about geo-politics!

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

The Syria AUMF: Be Careful What You Vote For

"The draft authorization for the use of military force the administration circulated Saturday is strikingly broad. And if we know anything from the history of past AUMFs, it’s that presidents will push the authority they’re given as far as language will allow—and possibly further. In his Rose Garden press conference Saturday, Obama said 'we would not put boots on the ground.' The action he’s contemplating would be 'limited in duration and scope.' Just a 'shot across the bow”—a light dusting of cruise missiles. The draft AUMF says no such thing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Syria AUMF: Be Careful What You Vote For

Kerry’s cosy dinner with Syria’s ‘Hitler’ at Damascus restaurant

"An astonishing photograph of John Kerry having a cozy and intimate dinner with Bashar al-Assad has emerged at the moment the U.S Secretary of State is making the case to bomb the Syrian dictator's country and remove him from power. Kerry, who compared Assad to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein yesterday, is pictured around a small table with his wife Teresa Heinz and the Assads in 2009. Assad and Kerry, then a Massachusetts senator, lean in towards each other and appear deep in conversation as their spouses look on. A waiter is pictured at their side with a tray of green drinks, believed to be lemon and crushed mint." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry’s cosy dinner with Syria’s ‘Hitler’ at Damascus restaurant

Pepe Escobar: The indispensable (bombing) nation

"All parallels to Iraq 2.0 duly came to fruition when US Secretary of State John Kerry pontificated that Bashar al-Assad 'now joins the list of Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein' as an evil monster. Why is Cambodia's Pol Pot never mentioned? Oh yes, because the US supported him. Every single tumbleweed in the Nevada desert knows who's itching for war on Syria; vast sectors of the industrial-military complex; Israel; the House of Saud; the 'socialist' Francois Hollande in France, who has wet dreams with Sykes-Picot. Virtually nobody is lobbying Congress NOT to go to war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPepe Escobar: The indispensable (bombing) nation

Senate committee strikes deal on resolution authorizing force against Syria

"Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reached an agreement late Tuesday on wording of a new resolution authorizing U.S. military force against the Syrian government. The resolution would permit up to 90 days of military action against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, beginning with 60 days and the option of 30 more pending President Obama’s notification of Congress, according to a copy of the resolution provided by Senate aides. The resolution also bars the deployment of U.S. combat troops into Syria, but would permit the deployment of a small rescue mission, in the event of an emergency, the aides said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate committee strikes deal on resolution authorizing force against Syria

CIA Analyst Michael Scheuer Exposes Syrian War Lobbyists

"Members of al Qaeda are known to be among the rebels being supported by the Obama administration. Like a Mexican standoff, the tragic conflict could go in any direction. Michael Scheuer is a historian and former CIA analyst. For three years, he headed the Osama bin Laden tracking Unit at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center. He is author of the book Imperial Hubris. In 2007, bin Laden said Scheuer's book revealed the reasons behind U.S. losses in the War on Terrorism." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCIA Analyst Michael Scheuer Exposes Syrian War Lobbyists

Andrew J. Bacevich: A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz

"Your imagination led you to foresee a brief conflict, with Iraqis rather than U.S. taxpayers footing the bill for any mess left behind. After all, preventive war was supposed to solve problems. Eliminating threats before they could materialize was going to enhance our standing, positioning us to call the shots. Instead, the result was a train wreck of epic proportions. Granted, as you yourself have said, 'the world is better off' with Saddam Hussein having met his maker. But taken as a whole, the cost-benefit ratio is cause for weeping. As for global hegemony, we can kiss it goodbye. What conclusions should we draw from the events that actually occurred, rather than from those you hoped for?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAndrew J. Bacevich: A Letter to Paul Wolfowitz

Global War on Terror (GWOT) Was a Hopeless Blunder from the Get-Go

"The American public needs to turn against the GWOT. The press and intellectuals need to do far more homework. They need to dig out and read criticisms like these. They need to be more critical of government failures to alter its policies. Many brains were put in cold storage because of the emotional impact of 9/11. They need to be resuscitated. The time for emotion is over. The GWOT was a hasty, ill-conceived response to 9/11. The press and public need a strong dose of honesty about past blunders. The press and public need to stop paying attention to the fanatic warmongers, hatemongers and partisans of Israel and militarism." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlobal War on Terror (GWOT) Was a Hopeless Blunder from the Get-Go

Top U.S. Republicans back Syria strike as refugee crisis mounts

"John Boehner, the Republican speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor both pledged their support for military action after the meeting. The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Tuesday he was confident after talking with Obama that the United States would step up its support for 'vetted' elements of the Syrian opposition. Senator Carl Levin said he urged the president, a fellow Democrat, to arm the Syrian rebels a day after two influential Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, sought similar assurances from Obama." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTop U.S. Republicans back Syria strike as refugee crisis mounts