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The US-led strike on Syria may have just attacked their own legitimacy

Eric Zeuss
The Duran
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 15:06 UTC
trump may macron
What happened right after the second direct US-missiles invasion of Syria, which had occurred on the night of April 13th, could turn out to have momentous implications - far bigger than the attacks themselves.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons headlined on April 14th, in the wake of this U.S.-UK-France invasion of Syria that was allegedly punishing Syria's Government for allegedly having used chemical weapons in its bombing in the town of Douma on April 7th, "OPCW Fact-Finding Mission Continues Deployment to Syria", and reported that:
The Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) team of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will continue its deployment to the Syrian Arab Republic to establish facts around the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma.

The OPCW has been working in close collaboration with the United Nations Department of Safety and Security to assess the situation and ensure the safety of the team.

Comment: The US presence and attacks on Syria are already illegal under international law, regardless of the OPCW's findings. That said, international law doesn't mean much these days. What does matter, however, is whether or not people believe the lies of the US and its vassals. If the OPCW finds no signs of a chemical attack (which is highly probable) it will be yet another blow to the collapsing credibility of the US empire.

See also:

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Briefcase

Democracy's mysterious ways: Trump ordered Syria strike based on a secret legal justification even Congress can't see

Jon Schwarz
The Intercept
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:22 UTC
Trump Bolton
© Mark Wilson/Getty Images
On Friday night, President Trump ordered the U.S. military to conduct a bombing attack against the government of Syria without congressional authorization. How can this be constitutional, given the fact that Article I, Section 8 of America's founding document declares that "The Congress shall have Power ... To declare War"?

The deeply bizarre and alarming answer is that Trump almost certainly does have some purported legal justification provided to him by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel - but no one else, including Congress, can read it.

The Office of Legal Counsel is often called the Supreme Court of the executive branch, providing opinions on how the president and government agencies should interpret the law.

We know that Trump received a top secret OLC opinion justifying the previous U.S. strike on Syria on April 6, 2017. Friday's bombing undoubtedly relied on the same memo or one with similar reasoning.

So while over 80 members of Congress wrote to Trump on Friday night stating that "engaging our military in Syria ... without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution," their action has no impact. The military will rely on the OLC's opinion that, constitutionally speaking, Trump's orders were perfectly fine. And it will be quite difficult for members of Congress to argue otherwise, since they don't even know what the Trump administration's precise rationale is.


Comment: US lawmakers tweet against attack on Syria: 'Trump denied the American people oversight in endless war'


Comment: Sometimes US presidents ask for congressional approval before taking military action. On this occasion, Trump did not, because FUKUS were in a hurry to act before the OPCW mission told the world that there had not been any chemical attack in Douma.

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Eagle

Challenging neoliberal hegemony: Lies, damned lies, and neocolonialism

Ben King
TeleSur
Wed, 11 Apr 2018 13:40 UTC
cash money currency wealth dollar
© Reuters
If we don't start challenging neoliberal hegemony soon, the non-West will eventually have little choice but to challenge it for themselves, writes Ben King.

There are numerous ways in which consent is manufactured within the neoliberal development regime. I've witnessed donors insist that an NGO remove 'ranty language' from a report, despite being direct quotes from 'recipients.' I've seen practitioners struggle daily to comply with filtering out anything relating to LGBT rights, so as to continue working with certain partners. I've seen good people vilified by right-wing tabloids for their personal activism, and subsequently let go by institutions too cowed to fight back. The response by practitioners and their bosses is always a variation on 'If we don't do this, we won't get any more funding, and we won't be able to do the good that we can do.' The sad truth is that they are right.

In my previous article, I showed the stark difference between how the regime promotes its global impact and the reality that is neocolonial empire. In this second part, I want to highlight how the reliance on, and abuse of, quantitative methodologies has helped to reinforce the belief that neocolonialism is a moral and positive tool for human development. It's a problem apparent from top to bottom: from the overarching, long-term strategy of the sector as a whole, to the thousands of individual papers and policy briefs produced annually.

Comment: An interesting read on the topic of how countries around the world are enslaved by this neoliberal ideology - and face violent consequences if they resist - is John Perkins' The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman.

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Bomb

Israeli Air Force vet warns escalation over Syria could lead to major conflict


RT
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 12:00 UTC
RAF Tornado British fighter jet
© UK Ministry of Defense / ReutersAn RAF Tornado taxis to the threshold before taking-off, in Akrotiri, Cyprus April 14, 2018.
Even though the continued escalation of tensions over the situation in Syria is unlikely to spiral into a full-scale world war, it can still lead to a major regional conflict, Reuven Ben-Shalom, an Israeli Air Force veteran, said.

The conflict in Syria remains a source of a major international security concerns as "global powers are at play" there, and some regional actors, such as Israel, who also pursue their own aims in this situation, Ben-Shalom, an Israeli Lieutenant Colonel in Reserve and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post, told RT's Oksana Boyko.

Comment: Full interview with Reuven Ben-Shalom:



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Hardhat

Jeremy Corbyn says the UK needs 'War Powers Act' after legally questionable Syria strike


teleSUR
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 00:01 UTC
Jeremy Corbyn
© ReutersJeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain's Labour Party attends the BBC's Marr Show in London, April 15, 2018.
The British opposition leader said his country needs the war powers act to limit government's control over military interventions.

After questioning the joint U.S., U.K. and French airstrikes against Syrian government structures, British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said he will push for a "war powers act" that would require the British government to seek approval from parliament for any future military actions.

In an interview with the BBC Sunday, Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, reiterated his argument that the U.K. strikes lacked legal basis and an authorization from the United Nations.

Comment: Corbyn continues to be the only UK political figure who talks any sense.

See also:

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Arrow Up

Death by a thousand cuts: China's yuan-priced crude chips away at petrodollar

Tsvetana Paraskova
Oilprice.com
Sun, 15 Apr 2018 14:00 UTC
Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo aka Black Mamba aka The Bride in ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1.’
© Global Look PressUma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo aka Black Mamba aka The Bride in ‘Kill Bill: Volume 1.’
China finally launched last month its yuan-denominated crude oil futures that have been in the works for years, after several delays.

The start of the new contract trading was successful, attracting interest from institutional and retail investors, and major commodity trading houses Glencore and Trafigura.

Yet, it's too soon to call the less-than-a-month-old contract a total success, because it still faces a long road toward building reputation and history, analysts say. They have also identified the single biggest risk factor for western investors - the extent to which China could meddle with government regulation in the yuan crude futures, as Beijing is known for little tolerance toward wild price swings in its markets and has a history of intervening.

This is also the conclusion of China's biggest crude oil supplier, OPEC. In its April Monthly Oil Market Report, the cartel - which accounts for close to 60 percent of China's crude oil imports - said that "the extent to which the INE contract is independent from government interference is currently the main risk factor facing western investors, which is in addition to a currency risk, given that the INE is settled in yuan."


Comment: These same investors don't seem so concerned when it comes to the Western elites total control over the global economic system: How the international banking cartel controls the world through the U.S. military and economic sabotage


Comment: Convincing Russia and Iran to bypass the dollar may not be so difficult: Also check out SOTT radio's: Behind the Headlines: Humpty Trumpty? Western Reality Creation Taken to Breaking Point in Syria Strikes

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2 + 2 = 4

SOTT Focus: Reporter Exposes US, UK and French Government Lies About Syria


OAN News
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:14 UTC
Assad Syrian people support
OAN News reporter, Pearson Sharp, is currently in Syria and was there during the cruise missile attack by the US, UK and France early last Friday morning.
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Attention

Flashback Yemeni army spokesman: 'Saudi Arabia has used chemical and biological weapons in Ma'rib'


Fars News
Tue, 13 Oct 2015 09:10 UTC
Yemeni Brigadier General Sharaf Qaleb Luqman
Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesman Brigadier General Sharaf Qaleb Luqman disclosed extensive use of chemical and biological weapons by Saudi-led forces in Yemen's Ma'rib province.

"The coalition of Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia has used chemical and biological weapons in Ma'rib," Arab media outlets quoted General Luqman as saying on Tuesday.

In early April, a senior Yemeni military official said that revolutionary fighters have confiscated a number of Saudi trucks carrying chemical substances for the terrorists running operations in the Muslim country.

Yemeni Major General Khalid al-Barayemi said that the revolutionary forces found the chemical weapons in several Saudi trucks bound for areas under Saudi-backed ISIL and Al-Qaeda terrorists' control.

Comment: Funny how back then, no one was pointing the finger at Saudi Arabia for chemical attacks. But then again, the US and Saudi are on the same side when it comes to supporting terrorists. Contrast that to Syria and Russia, who are actually fighting against them - and winning.

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Mr. Potato

Trudeau waves to fans on airport tarmac - except there's nobody there


Spencer Fernando
Sat, 14 Apr 2018 08:38 UTC
trudeau waves nobody
Justin Trudeau waves before boarding an RCAF VIP transport aircraft to Washington, DC. A little-known fact about these types of photos: Trudeau usually isn't waving at anybody, but he does it anyway because it makes for a good photo.
There's nobody there Justin.

As Justin Trudeau's poll numbers have fallen, he seems to be doubling down on the very things that have gotten him in trouble with Canadians.

He's still obsessed with photo-ops, he's demonizing the opposition and Canadians who disagree with him more aggressively than ever, and his deceptions and lies are increasing in volume.

Plus - even as the pipeline crisis swirls at home - Trudeau jetted off for another one of the foreign trips he loves so much.

During that latest foreign trip (this time to Peru for the Summit of the Americas), Justin Trudeau took a moment to wave to the adoring crowds as he boarded his airplane.

Trudeau often waves as he boards his airplane, and this time seemed no different.

Comment: True to form, he continues to be an embarrassment to Canada. See also:

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Gear

Putin: Actions similar to coalition strikes in Syria will lead to chaos in international relations


RT
Mon, 16 Apr 2018 08:52 UTC
Ruins of the Scientific Research
© Monsef Memari / Global Look PressRuins of the Scientific Research Center are seen in the Barzeh neigborhood of Damascus after the US, the UK and France carried out joint airstrikes on Syrian facilities
The strikes launched by the US and its allies against Syria have seriously damaged the Syrian peace process, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. If such actions continue, it would have grave consequences for the world, he said.

"If such actions that are carried out in violation of the UN Charter continue that would inevitably lead to chaos in the international relations," the Kremlin said in a statement, citing the Russian leader. Putin made his statements during a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani.

The two leaders exchanged their views on the situation in Syria, following the massive missile strike launched by the US, the UK and France that targeted Syria's military and civilian infrastructure. Both presidents denounced the actions of the Western states by calling them an "illegal" act that was deleterious to the Syrian peace process.

Comment: See also: Ryabkov on West-sponsored UNSC draft: 'We have our own red line'

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