Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree. In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the US invasion was illegal and
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The Scott Ross: Why Russia’s Crimea is different from America’s Iraq
Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree. In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the US invasion was illegal and
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Russia’s Crimea is different from America’s Iraq
Today President Obama said America’s invasion of Iraq is nothing compared to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Coffin makers agree.In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq, a stable country, claiming Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The UN Se…
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 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 The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian Civil War has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong. The rebels are wrong of course because the Syrian Civil War started, not because Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but because Assad was overzealous in repressing terrorists. Today it is admitted
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian civil war has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong.The rebels are wrong of course because this war started, not because the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but beca…
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian civil war has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong. The rebels are wrong of course because this war started, not because the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but because Assad was overzealous in repressing terrorists. Today it
Continue readingcalgaryliberal.com: The Purpose of a Political Party
A political party has one purpose. It is a service organization. And it serves the public. Everything else is secondary. A political party is focused on its relationship with the voter, supporting the public servants be they a MLA or member, and creating opportunities for leadership. In this a party
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: A Toast For Canada
After the Quebec Conference, at a gala dinner hosted by George-Etienne Cartier, Canada’s Fathers of Confederation held a toast; it was offered as encouragement to face the difficulties still before them in forming a nation, but the verse stands today as encouragement for us to face the difficulties in now
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Public Health Care Is Our White Whale
The White Whale swam before him as the monomaniac incarnation of all those malicious agencies which some deep men feel eating in them, till they are left living on with half a heart and half a lung. – Herman Melville, Moby Dick Perhaps if the revenge-obsessed Captain Ahab had access
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: How The US Used Pussy Riot And You Liked It
Why were you outraged over Russia locking up Pussy Riot but ambivalent over America bringing its full weight down on open access activist Aaron Swartz? Simple, because hating a Russian government is easier than improving your own. When Russian punk band Pussy Riot received 2 years for “hooliganism motivated by
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: US Gen. McChrystal Warns Against Drones
This is quite shocking. This statement might appear to be commonsense, but it is a radical divergence from the standard view that terrorism against the US government is never justified or deserved. In essence this is a warning from a four-star US General to his government about the use of
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Canada Needs An Elected Senate Just Like America’s
“Washington is broken.” – Barack Obama Looking at the Canadian Senate in isolation might motivate many to question it, but compared to the American Senate, Canadians should be proud of their upper chamber. Besides the fact that googling “Ottawa is broken” brings zero related results, the American Senate is so
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Banning Guns Is Pointless, Or Soon Will Be
Thanks to 3D printing, a government ban on guns soon will be as enforceable as a government ban on pictures of guns. That is because, not in the too distant future, printing objects will be as easy as printing pictures, and if the government can’t prevent anyone from printing pictures
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Republicans Show Government Can Create Jobs
One month after the Sandy Hook shootings, with fears of an assault weapons ban, not only are sales for assault rifles at record highs, but all gun sales are up, ammunition sales are up, and even firearm stocks are up. The irony of all this is that all these people
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Trust In Trudeau
Because Stephen Harper was a self-described “radical right-wing ideologue”, he was the only one who could make the conservatives more Liberal. Because Barack Obama was so anti-war, he was the only one who could make the Democrats more pro-war than Republicans. In both cases it was each man’s close association
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Your Country’s Finances Are Exactly Like Yours
Many scoff at the conservative analogy that the American government should manage its finances like a household, but little do they realize the idea doesn’t strengthen conservativism, it weakens it. After a fiscal cliff deal that only increased taxes, many right-leaning politicians are preparing for a fight in order to
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