What Could Possibly Go Wrong

Report: China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria

"China has reportedly sent warships to the coast of Syria to 'observe' the actions of US and Russian ships as tensions build in preparation for a potential military strike on Syria which could come as soon as next week. According to the Russian news outlet Telegrafist.org, the People’s Liberation Army dispatched the Jinggangshan amphibious dock landing ship and the vessel was seen passing through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal, the waterway in Egypt that leads to the Mediterranean Sea and waters off the coast of Israel, Lebanon and Syria. According to the report, the ship has not been sent to engage in any aggressive actions but is merely there to 'observe'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria

China Officially Backs Russia On Syria, Warns On Global Economy

"China warned on Thursday that military intervention in Syria would hurt the world economy and push up oil prices, reinforcing Vladimir Putin’s attempts to talk US President Barack Obama out of air strikes. 'Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy, especially on the oil price – it will cause a hike in the oil price,' Chinese vice-finance minister Zhu Guangyao told a briefing before the start of the G20 leaders’ talks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina Officially Backs Russia On Syria, Warns On Global Economy

Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

"As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. Across much of Syria, where rebels with Western support live and fight, areas outside of government influence have evolved into a complex guerrilla and criminal landscape. That has raised the prospect that American military action could inadvertently strengthen Islamic extremists and criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBrutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West

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’

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

Search Engine Finds Internet-Connected Cameras, Medical Devices, Power Plants

"Shodan crawls the Internet looking for devices, many of which are programmed to answer. It has found cars, fetal heart monitors, office building heating-control systems, water treatment facilities, power plant controls, traffic lights and glucose meters. It’s become a crucial tool for security researchers, academics, law enforcement and hackers looking for devices that shouldn’t be on the Internet or devices that are vulnerable to being hacked. An industry report from Swedish tech company Ericsson estimates that 50 billion devices will be networked by 2020 into an 'Internet of Things.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSearch Engine Finds Internet-Connected Cameras, Medical Devices, Power Plants

We Must Not Be the World’s Policeman

"No one appointed the United States the world’s policeman. The government’s founding document, the Constitution, does not and could not do so. Obama and Kerry have tried hard to invoke 'national security' as grounds for bombing Syria, but no one believes Assad threatens Americans. He has made no such statements and taken no threatening actions. He is engulfed in a sectarian civil war. Inexcusably, Obama has taken sides in that civil war — the same side as the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate — but still Assad poses no danger to Americans. Bombing would make him more — not less — of a threat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWe Must Not Be the World’s Policeman

Syria: Nobel Peace Laureate Tells Her Account of What She Witnessed

"Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mairead Maguire tells her account of her visit to Syria. While Maguire was in Syria she discovered that the people the U.S. are funding are violent groups and do not want peace in Syria. Her her view is that Syria is being used as a proxy war by the U.S., Great Britain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSyria: Nobel Peace Laureate Tells Her Account of What She Witnessed

Senate-crafted Syria resolution riddled with loopholes for Obama

"Senators on Wednesday tried to write a tight resolution authorizing President Obama to strike Syria under very specific circumstances, but analysts and lawmakers said the language still has plenty of holes the White House could use to expand military action well beyond what Congress appears to intend. 'Wiggle room? Plenty of that,' said Louis Fisher, scholar in residence at the Constitution Project and former long-time expert for the Congressional Research Service on separation of powers issues. Mr. Fisher pointed to the 1964 resolution that authorized a limited response to the Gulf of Tonkin, but that ended up being the start of an escalation of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam war." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate-crafted Syria resolution riddled with loopholes for Obama