Wag The Dog

Syria hails U.S.-Russia chemical weapons deal as a ‘victory’ that averts war

"A US-Russian plan to remove Syria’s chemical weapons is a 'victory' that averts a war, a Syrian minister said Sunday, as Washington’s top diplomat briefed Israel about the landmark deal. Some Israeli commentators raised the question of whether Washington would lean on Israel to ratify the international treaty banning the use of chemical weapons. Israel signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1993 but never ratified it, despite demands to do so from Washington and Moscow." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria hails U.S.-Russia chemical weapons deal as a ‘victory’ that averts war

NSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

"Details of the intelligence-sharing agreement are laid out in a memorandum of understanding between the NSA and its Israeli counterpart that shows the US government handed over intercepted communications likely to contain phone calls and emails of American citizens. The agreement places no legally binding limits on the use of the data by the Israelis. The disclosure that the NSA agreed to provide raw intelligence data to a foreign country contrasts with assurances from the Obama administration that there are rigorous safeguards to protect the privacyof US citizens caught in the dragnet. The deal was reached in principle in March 2009, according to the undated memorandum." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA shares raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel

Chomsky: U.S. is a ‘rogue state’ that ‘doesn’t pay attention to international law’

"'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 →

Continue ReadingChomsky: U.S. is a ‘rogue state’ that ‘doesn’t pay attention to international law’

Paul Craig Roberts: Why Are Obama and Kerry Desperate to Start a New War?

"Isn’t it a threat to international security when a superpower can, acting on a whim, demonize a leader and a country and unleash mass destruction, as the US has done seven times in the past twelve years? There are millions of innocent but demonized victims of the 'indispensable, exceptional USA,' the 'light unto the world.' Forget about the US media, which is nothing but a propaganda ministry for the Israel Lobby. What the members of Congress and what the American people need to ask obama is why does the White House only represent the Israel Lobby? No one supports an attack on Syria but the Israel Lobby." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Why Are Obama and Kerry Desperate to Start a New War?

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

House Staffer Tells Me What AIPAC Is Doing

"Israel has no problem with the Assad regime. Like their dearly departed fellow former strongman Hosni Mubarak, both Hafez and Bashir Assad scrupulously kept the peace with Israel since 1973. As for chemical weapons, Israel not only has used them in Gaza but is one of seven countries in the world (Syria is another one) that has not ratified the treaty banning their use. Additionally, any regime likely to succeed Assad’s is likely to be more militantly anti-Israel and more trigger happy than the current regime. The reason Israel (and its lobby) are going all out to push the United States to attack Syria is as a precedent for a much larger attack on Iran." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHouse Staffer Tells Me What AIPAC Is Doing

Who funds Syrian rebel advocate O’Bagy and her ‘Task Force’? You do

"The Syrian Emergency Task Force, the pro-rebel lobbying outfit that employs widely quoted intervention advocate Elizabeth O’Bagy as its political director, receives funding from the U.S. Department of State and related government contractors. In an exclusive interview with The Daily Caller earlier last week, O’Bagy explained how she got paid. O’Bagy has been roundly condemned for working for a pro-Syrian lobbying group at the same time she was casting the Syrian rebels in a positive light. She works as an analyst at the neoconservative think tank, the Institute for the Study of War." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWho funds Syrian rebel advocate O’Bagy and her ‘Task Force’? You do

Petition To AIPAC: Stay Out Of Our Foreign Policy!

"We the undersigned demand that you, the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), STAY OUT of America foreign policy, that you call back the hundreds of lobbyists you have currently sent to D.C. to bribe congress to attack Syria, and that you let the American people make up their own minds regarding what is best for America. Just as no other nation comes before Israel for Israelis, no other nation comes before America for Americans." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPetition To AIPAC: Stay Out Of Our Foreign Policy!

AIPAC to deploy hundreds of lobbyists to push for Syria action

"The influential pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee will deploy hundreds of activists next week to win support in Congress for military action in Syria, amid an intense White House effort to convince wavering U.S. lawmakers to vote for limited strikes. 'We plan a major lobbying effort with about 250 activists in Washington to meet with their senators and representatives,' an AIPAC source said on Saturday. Congressional aides said they expected the meetings and calls on Tuesday, as President Barack Obama and officials from his administration make their case for missile strikes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAIPAC to deploy hundreds of lobbyists to push for Syria action

Woman informing Kerry, McCain on Syria is paid advocate for rebels

"On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry encouraged members of the House of Representatives to read a Wall Street Journal op-ed by 26-year-old Elizabeth O’Bagy — an analyst with the Institute for the Study of War — who asserted that concerns about extremists dominating among the Syrian rebels are unfounded. But in addition to her work for the Institute for the Study of War, O’Bagy is also the political director for the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a group that advocates within the United States for Syria’s rebels — a fact that the Journal did not disclose in O’Bagy’s piece." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWoman informing Kerry, McCain on Syria is paid advocate for rebels