The referendum in Crimea scheduled for March 16 has been declared invalid by US secretary of state John Kerry who also issued warnings of serious consequences if Russia “annexes” Crimea. He promised that sanctions against Russia would “get ugly fast.” This was echoed by Germany’s Angela Merkel who has made
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The Progressive Economics Forum: Did the US Take a Bite Out of Canada-Korea Trade?
On last night’s The National, Terry Milewski introduced the Canada-Korea trade deal as follows: The truth is that Canada is a latecomer to free trade with South Korea. The European Union and the United States both got there first, and their free trade deals took a big bite out of
Continue readingcmkl: David Simon: ‘There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show’ | World news | The Observer
The creator of the Wire, the Corner, Generation Kill gave a speech, in Sydney, summarized in the London-based Guardian. David Simon: ‘There are now two Americas. My country is a horror show’ . And here I am, a Canadian mentioning it on my blog. In part because I find it remarkable that there
Continue readingLeft Over: Big US Brother will Contine to Watch You….
Canadian Banks To Be Compelled To Share Clients’ Info With U.S. CBC | Posted: 11/25/2013 5:00 am EST As a happily ex-Yank who gladly and gratefully accepted citizenship in this far superior (in every way) country, Canada, many decades ago, I would personally like to point out to the Yanks that Canada
Continue readingThe Progressive Economics Forum: The NSA Scandal is all about Economics
Back in 1998, I wrote a lengthy investigative feature for The Financial Post about Canada’s signals intelligence agency, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE), and its post-Cold War role. You can read it here: http://circ.jmellon.com/docs/pdf/trolling_for_secrets_economic_espionage.pdf The CSE and its sister signals intelligence agency in the US, the National Security Agency (NSA),
Continue readingLeft Over: The Revolution will Start, With or Without Me….
Russell Brand’s Epic Interview With BBC’s Jeremy Paxman Just Might Start A Revolution (VIDEO) The Huffington Post | By Ryan GrenoblePosted: 10/25/2013 4:11 pm EDT Many have seen Russel Brand’s remarkable interview with Jeremy Paxman, either on TV or YouTube..if not please go to the HuffPo article cited here and see it..the best ten
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Amnesty International calls US drone strikes in Pakistan “war crimes”
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International says some of the unlawful killings executed by US drone strikes in Pakistan “could even amount to war crimes”. The post Amnesty International calls US drone strikes in Pakistan “war crimes” appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Are We Going to Stand By as Our Kids’ Future is Stolen?
Jimmy Carter recently observed that today’s American middle class are coming to resemble America’s poor back in the pre-Reagan era. That’s the bad news. The worse news is that Americans aren’t alone. Like much of Europe, Britain’s middle class is also being ravaged by chronic unemployment and mounting inequality. The
Continue readingLeft Over: Bitumen Off More Then They Can Chew…..
Northern Gateway pipeline to be running by 2018, says Enbridge Project will be approved in 2014 and moving oil by 2018, company says The Canadian Press Posted: Oct 02, 2013 6:46 AM PT Last Updated: Oct 02, 2013 7:44 AM PT Fascinating, isn’t it, how these oily creeps assume that they
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: America Urges Philippines to Combat Inequality
Yeah, I know, I know. Me too. Then again, the Philippines is a good long way away from Main Street, U.S.A. American officials are urging the Phillipines to see to fair distribution of the country’s new found wealth. Despite having Asia’s second highest growth in gross domestic product (GDP) last
Continue readingLeft Over: I’ll See Your Bombs, and Raise You Climate Change….
Harper offers Obama climate plan to win Keystone approval Sources say PM willing to accept emissions reduction targets proposed by the U.S. By Chris Hall, National Editor, CBC News Posted: Sep 6, 2013 2:15 PM ET Last Updated: Sep 6, 2013 10:08 PM ET First he pontificates (through his
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is America Courting War with China?
Ever since it staged Operation Chimichanga, a dress-rehearsal of a stealth, first-strike attack to take out Chinese air defences, America has been treading gingerly along what may be the road to war. Chinese J-31 Stealth Fighter China has been busy responding with its own stealth fighters, anti-satellite space weaponry, an
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Manning case shows that US government’s priorities are ‘upside down’
The Bradley Manning verdict is about sending the message that “the US government will come after you”, says Amnesty International’s Senior Director of International Law and Policy Widney Brown. The post Manning case shows that US government’s priorities are ‘upside down’ appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
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 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 readingDead Wild Roses: Birth Control – An Ounce of Prevention…
Fiscal conservatives give me a headache at the best of times. Having them opine about how availability of birth control is going to drive up costs and make every one sad, well…makes me sad. It would be nice, for once, if our conservative friends would base their opinion on something
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: The American People and Conservative Republicans Agree – Legalizing Pot Is a State Right
Some of the most conservative Republicans in Congress are leading the charge to end their federal government’s war on pot. They introduced a bill, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act, in the House last week. The legislation would mean the feds would have to accept state laws that legalize or
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: Memo to US christian Colleges and Business – Stop Trying to Break the Law
The christian majority continues to whinge about being oppressed. Tough beans theocrats – the law, for once, has women’s back on this issue. So when you see the christian whinge starting as illustrated below, you also have the answer to their false claim of being persecuted. Whinge: How does forcing
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