What Could Possibly Go Wrong

7 Reasons Why the Public Is Right to Mistrust Obama on Syria

"1. What Iraq taught Americans -- what Vietnam taught before that -- is that Washington foreign-policy planners cannot accurately say beforehand just how long a war will last, how much it will cost, or how many Americans it might ultimately kill, even though many of them earnestly believe that their prognostication is accurate. They're asking us to believe their assurances about how limited the conflict will be, even though many of them got Iraq wrong on that same metric. They talk about intervention in Syria as if they know just what will happen. That's part of why they can't be trusted: their delusions of control." Continue reading →

Continue Reading7 Reasons Why the Public Is Right to Mistrust Obama on Syria

CIA Begins Weapons Delivery To Syrian Rebels

"The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war. The arms shipments, which are limited to light weapons and other munitions that can be tracked, began arriving in Syria at a moment of heightened tensions over threats by President Obama to order missile strikes to punish the regime of Bashar al-Assad." Continue reading →

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9/11 Commission leaders push for changes in US terrorism fight

"Today, Al Qaeda and its affiliates maintain a presence in 'some 16 different theaters of operation – compared with half as many as recently as five years ago,' according to the report. In Syria in particular, the civil war may be providing Al Qaeda 'with a chance to regroup, train, and plan operations, much as the US invasion of Iraq revitalized the network and gave it new relevance,' notes the report. While these Al Qaeda groups have been busy expanding in other parts of the globe, within the confines of the United States, the threat of attacks 'has shifted away from plots directly connected to foreign groups,' in the report’s estimation, 'to plots by individuals who are merely inspired by them.'" Continue reading →

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Treasury: $238b financial bailout ‘avoided catastrophe,’ only $3b outstanding

"The US Treasury said Wednesday the government’s massive response to the economic crisis five years ago paid off, avoiding a catastrophic breakdown of the financial system. In a report marking the anniversary of the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers — which snowballed into the worst crisis since the 1930s — the Treasury defended deploying hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to save other banks, major financial institutions and auto companies. While the rescue effort required piling up government debt, it was necessary, said Treasury officials who briefed reporters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTreasury: $238b financial bailout ‘avoided catastrophe,’ only $3b outstanding

Ron Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

"Despite Obama’s assurances that U.S. military action won’t involve 'boots on the ground,' Paul warned about the human cost of 'so many more lives lost than [lawmakers] are anticipating. They think they can predict these things, but there is a cost – the cost of life and limb, the cost of freedoms at home because of a war atmosphere.' 'Just because one cruise missile might cost one-and-a-half million dollars –there are a lot more expenses involved' in any military strike, said Ron Paul. 'It will be easy [for costs] to go much, much higher.' He compared the difference in costs in the Iraq War: 'It was estimated to cost $60 billion – and it turned out to be into the trillions.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Why Aren’t We Talking About the Cost of War in Syria?

A war the Pentagon doesn’t want

"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 →

Continue ReadingA war the Pentagon doesn’t want

‘Syrian rebels plan chem attack on Israel from Assad-controlled territories’

"A chemical attack may be launched on Israel by Syrian rebels from government-controlled territories as a 'major provocation,' multiple sources told RT. The report comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed that Syria puts its chemical weapons arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction in order to prevent a possible military strike against the war-torn country. On Sunday, the Senate Select Intelligence Committee released a series of 13 videos showing what is purported to be proof of chemical weapons use in Syria. The administration told senators that the authenticity of the videos was verified by the intelligence community, reported CNN." Continue reading →

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Syrian jihadist rebels attack, kill 12 Alawite civilians

"Twelve civilians from Syria’s Alawite minority, to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs, have been killed by jihadist fighters in the central province of Homs, a Syrian NGO said Wednesday. Fighters from the Al-Nusra Front and another rebel group attacked three Alawite villages near the city of Homs Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The rebels entered the village of Maksar al-Hissan and 'shot 12 Alawites to death before leaving the area.' Troops retook the village on Tuesday night, after clashes in which they lost two men and killed several members of Al-Nusra, he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyrian jihadist rebels attack, kill 12 Alawite civilians

Scheuer: Ten questions worth pondering on Obama, Syria, and Interventionism

"Question: Is it justifiable for America to go to war in Syria to get President Obama out of the box he created for himself by talking about a 'red line' in the Syrian civil war, a conflict in which no genuine U.S. national interests are at risk? Answer: No. Obama’s inexperience in foreign affairs and his seeming personal arrogance got him — and America — into this mess, and so little a man is he that he now refuses to accept responsibility for foolishly drawing the red line, instead blaming it on 'the world.' Let him swing. Question: Will America’s credibility as a great military power be denigrated if it does not attack Syria? Answer: No. We have already lost most of that credibility [..]" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScheuer: Ten questions worth pondering on Obama, Syria, and Interventionism

How To Lose a War Before Even Starting It

"Events in Syria are of marginal importance to us, and on the edge of our ability to influence. Since the civil war in Syria is a major focus of the world-wide, longstanding struggle between Islam’s Sunni and Shia factions, what will happen there will be determined by Syrians and their neighbors regardless of what the US government does or does not do. The Syrian civil war’s importance to us, however, may well be that it is reminding us of how we should deal with matters of war and peace, namely: concretely, logically, un-emotionally, jealously matching the ends we seek with the means we are willing to use. American statesmen have not done that consistently for a century." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow To Lose a War Before Even Starting It