In Oceania and throughout the West, there are things citizens are not supposed to remember. After all, if we don’t remember them, did they really happen? Click here for a refresher course in the use of chemical weapons from some players we should be well-familiar with. Recommend this Post
Continue readingTag: Iraq
The Disaffected Lib: While We’re Focused on Chemical Warfare
It’s interesting how selective the United States can be about weapons of mass destruction given that the U.S. continues to be responsible for widespread death and destruction from its own chemical and nuclear weapons. The gas that Obama-Kerry are blaming on Assad appears to have killed somewhere between a few
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: A Case Against Invading Syria
With the UK and the United States arguing that it’s time to take action against Syria, it seems a good time to consider the consequences of such involvement from the NATO powers. On general principles, I do not believe that there is a particularly strong case for any of the
Continue readingdrive-by planet: John Kerry’s speech: U.S. hypocrisy in preparing conditions for an illegal attack on Syria
In the course of his speech to prep public opinion for the likely US-NATO attack on Syria, U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, said: “President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.” The killing of
Continue readingYappa Ding Ding: Musings on Manning
I worked for Reuters back in the 80s and 90s, and still get email sometimes about things that happen to Reuters employees. I got one today concerning the murder of Reuters journalists that was exposed by Pfc Manning, the US soldier recently convicted of leaking confidential documents to WikiLeaks. The
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: What an Exodus Looks Like, Or Does It?
This image, published in the Sydney Morning Herald, is said to show an exodus of Syrian Kurds, escaping the brutal civil war to take refuge in the autonomous Kurdish territory in Iraq. Is it real? I’m not sure. There’s one fellow with a small travel bag but none of the
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Iraqi Single Mom And Tech Lawyer Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes
An Iraqi single mom and a tech lawyer are suing ex-president George W. Bush for war crimes, believe they can prove the Iraq War was a “crime of aggression” under U.S. law. The post Iraqi Single Mom And Tech Lawyer Suing George W. Bush for War Crimes appeared first on
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Occupy Movement Vs. Maquiladoras
Workplace justice: a pipe dream, or something to build solidarity to fight for? I had the distinct, and creepy, pleasure of sitting in front of a group of fellows yesterday in, ironically, the cheap seats at the Seattle Mariners game. They were discussing business. One fellow, who of course may
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Syria – Is there nothing we can do?
In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, as the world collectively tried to parse the abhorrent barbarism and purposelessness that had occurred, a new foreign policy doctrine was proposed: liberal interventionism. It was a policy that advocated for military intervention by the powerful west in situations where the humanitarian crisis was
Continue readingCowichan Conversations: War Crimes Attorney Says He Will Get George W. Bush
Richard Hughes Political Blogger The ‘Truth Seeker’ is revealing legal efforts to arrest and prosecute George W. Bush and Barack Obama for illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Further charges for illegal surveillance, war crimes including torture, genocide, drone attacks world wide are being pursued against President Obama as well.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks. The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks.
The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it now believes the Syrian government did use chemical weapons, arming the rebels is now a moral imperative. However the often under-reported and plainly ignored facts strongly suggest it was not the Syrian government that used chemical weapons, but the rebels.
Besides of course that a significant amount of rebels belong to Jabhat al-Nusra a group classified as terrorists by the US and the UN, perhaps the most striking evidence that the Syrian rebels used chemical weapons is that a large portion of those who died from them are government soldiers.
Time World has reported that there are four alleged instances of chemical weapon use in Syria with other news agencies reporting that in at least one of these the majority of deaths were pro-Assad forces.
From Time, June 5 2013: “On Monday, the U.N. panel charged with investigating Syria’s hostilities issued a report in Geneva, saying that there was evidence that “limited quantities of toxic chemicals” had been used in four attacks in March and April, twice in Aleppo, once in Damascus, and once in Idlib.”
In March of this year both Fox News And Reuters confirm that most of the deaths in a chemical weapon attack in Aleppo were government forces: “Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters that 16 Syrian Army soldiers were killed in the explosion, and 10 others died in a local hospital. He did not elaborate whether they were soldiers or civilians.”
The idea that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would use chemical weapons to kill his own soldiers who at the time were fighting the rebels is just one of the many inconsistencies in the US narrative in this civil war.
Another is that Assad, who knew using chemical weapons would bring US intervention, would have little reason to fire them, especially since his forces have had the upper hand for months. And not only did he not have a reason to use them, but using them to only kill a total of 100 to 150 people in four separate incidences would be inefficient; more traditional rockets and firepower are more accurate and far cheaper.
On top of all this is of course the fact that the UN has not only reported there is no evidence that Assad used chemical weapons, but that a UN inspector, independently, said it was the rebels who were the ones who used chemical weapons, which just so happens to explain why so many Syrian soldiers died from them.
Nonetheless, the United States has decided, despite the inconsistencies in its justification, to intervene in Syria’s civil war.
And because of that some may draw parallels between US involvement in Iraq with Syria, but some caution is required. Yes, both involved fictitious weapon allegations and will only lead to more violence, more extremists, and more years if not decades of instability, but this time a government gets overturned, a nation is ruined, and millions of lives are affected without any Americans getting their boots dirty.
Smell that? That’s progress.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks. The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Who is the real terrorist?: LowKey – Terrorist video
Definitions of terrorism: “The systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion.” – Merriam Webster “Systematic use of violence and intimidation to achieve some goal.“ – Free Dictionary “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.” – Dictionary.com Noam Chomsky clarifies the
Continue readingLeDaro: Boston Marathon Violence
Since the Boston Marathon Violence I have been feeling very depressed. What kind of morons brainwashed these two brothers and what did they achieve? They killed three innocent people and wounded many others. The older brother is dead and the younger one is in serious condition; he will suffer a
Continue reading350 or bust: From Boston To Iraq To Syria: Nobody Deserves To Get Blown Up, At Anytime
* Via @AnonymousOpsIRC on Twitter: From Boston to Afghanistan, nobody deserves to get blown up at anytime. #peace not #war American comedian Patton Oswalt posted a thoughtful response to the Boston bombings on his Facebook wall, reflecting on the goodness that remains in the world: …I don’t know what’s going
Continue reading350 or bust: From Boston To Iraq To Syria: Nobody Deserves To Get Blown Up, At Anytime
* Via @AnonymousOpsIRC on Twitter: From Boston to Afghanistan, nobody deserves to get blown up at anytime. #peace not #war American comedian Patton Oswalt posted a thoughtful response to the Boston bombings on his Facebook wall, reflecting on the goodness that remains in the world: …I don’t know what’s going
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive | News & Analysis: Veterans for Peace: Please Don’t Iraq Iran or Any Other Nation
By: Veterans for Peace | Press Release: WASHINGTON – April 1, 2013 – Veterans for Peace has released the following statement: With the 10-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq behind us, the task lies before us of preventing the next one. The Iraq war, like all wars, was launched on the basis
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Chris Hedges Takes Down Intellectual America – Iggy’s On His List Too
To Chris Hedges, America’s intelligentsia are a pack of sell-outs who showed their true colours when they lined up to support George w. Bush’s war on Iraq. And Hedges is naming names: The war boosters, especially the “liberal hawks”—who included Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Al Franken and John Kerry, along
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