Puppet Masters
CBS news reporter Charlie Rose interviewed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Sunday September 9, 2013.
Hearing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cite the bad intelligence reports that led the U.S. into Iraq to protect his own country against an attack had Jon Stewart apopleptic on Monday night.
"You needlessly invade one country based on false evidence, suddenly you're bad at war" Stewart fretted. "Come on. We have had a very solid war career - between 40 to 60 percent justified. But all anybody wants to talk about is the most recent one of the wrong ones. It's like we're the Bill Buckner of superpowers now."
"You needlessly invade one country based on false evidence, suddenly you're bad at war" Stewart fretted. "Come on. We have had a very solid war career - between 40 to 60 percent justified. But all anybody wants to talk about is the most recent one of the wrong ones. It's like we're the Bill Buckner of superpowers now."
© AFP Photo / Shaam News Network
Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows people inspecting bodies of children and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013.
Syrian opposition's Shaam News Network shows people inspecting bodies of children and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21, 2013.
Members of the conference were presented accounts of international experts, Syrian public figures and Russian news reporters covering the Syrian conflict, which back Russia's opposition to the US plans, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The speakers argued that the suspected sarin gas attack near Damascus on August 21 was likely a provocation of the rebel forces and that a military action against the President Bashar Assad government will likely result in civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe affecting the entire region.
© Unknown
The possible agreement comes after Russia proposed the notion to Syria, and according to reports, Syria accepted. Secretary of State John Kerry made a seemingly rhetorical statement on Monday when he suggested that the United States would back down from military action if Syria turned its chemical weapons over, further stating that he believed there was virtually no likelihood of this ever happening. Russia took interest in that sentiment, and now a Syrian official is saying that the country has agreed to the proposal.
The announcement has been taken with understandable skepticism, however, as the United States and its allies worry that this could potentially be a tactic used to stall a military strike longer than it's already being stalled.
Still, President Obama said Monday that he's open to the possibility of this happening.
Obama accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.
Recently, Maria Rodale, the CEO of the publishing company Rodale, Inc., wrote an open letter to President Obama regarding Syria, urging him to reconsider his position to press for a military strike against Syria.
While there is nothing unusual about Maria's anti-war sentiment, with a recent Washington/ABC poll finding nearly six in 10 Americans oppose military action as a response to the Syrian government's alleged use of chemical weapons, her reference to biotech companies like Monsanto poisoning our children and environment with the president's support and encouragement, and her claim that the viral Facebook meme below contributed to her realization, caused the mainstream media to fume with reactionary waves of criticism and character assault.
All of this, of course, distracts from the underlying context of the coming war in Syria, which is a war (like most wars in modern history) spurred by the geopolitical machinations of 'resource procurement,' and which like most wars, are many years in the making. All else, as Frank Zappa pointed out, has strictly entertainment value.
© Shane Wilkinson/EPA
Philip Hammond, who said the UK government was 'not ashamed of promoting responsible defence exports'.
Philip Hammond, who said the UK government was 'not ashamed of promoting responsible defence exports'.
Selling weapons abroad is a top priority for the government, Philip Hammond, the UK defence secretary, made clear on Tuesday, praising what he called a "fabulous show" displaying "fantastic kit".
It was the opening day of London Docklands' biennial arms bazaar, the biggest so far with 40 countries, including Russia and Israel, having their own national pavilions, and as many as 1,500 companies offering their wares.
Official guests at the arms show include the governments of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya - countries that need to build up their armed forces after recent conflicts in which Britain has played its part - as well as such traditional arms trade allies as Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
But until last year, the top 1 per cent's share of pre-tax income hadn't surpassed the 18.7 per cent it reached in 1927, according to an analysis of IRS figures dating to 1913 by economist Emmanuel Saez of the University of California, Berkeley, and three colleagues.
Saez wrote that 2012 incomes of the richest Americans might have surged in part because they cashed in stock holdings to avoid higher capital gains taxes that took effect in January.
The nation's top 1 per cent have been the targets of resentment in recent years which was manifested in the Occupy Wall Street movement that started in September 2011. The movement started in New York's Zuccotti Park, and thousands camped out and marched for months calling for wide-reaching change in the capitalist system. The adopted chant was 'We are the 99 per cent' and the movement spread to cities throughout the U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry added to his public embarrassments as he was accused of lying today when he claimed that he and Secretary of State Chuck Hagel had 'opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq'. The Washington Post's Fact Checker column awarded Kerry four out of four 'Pinocchios,' its sliding scale of untruthfulness.
That ignoble result puts Kerry's comment on a credibility par with President Obama's recent claim that he articulated 'the world's red line' - not his own - when he first warned Syria's dictator of the consequences of using chemical weapons.
During an interview on MSNBC on September 5, Kerry said that air strikes against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria would not become yet another U.S. military quagmire, citing his alleged opposition to the Iraq War. 'I think a lot of Americans, a lot of your listeners, a lot of people in the country,' Kerry said, 'are sitting there and saying, "Oh my gosh, this is going to be Iraq, this is going to be Afghanistan, here we go again."'
'I know this, I've heard it,' he continued. 'And the answer is no, profoundly no. You know, Senator Chuck Hagel, when he was senator - Senator Chuck Hagel, now secretary of defense - and when I was a senator, we opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq but we know full well how that [flawed] evidence [about weapons of mass destruction] was used to persuade all of us that authority ought to be given.'
But on October 11, 2002, according to Senate records, both Kerry and Hagel cast 'yea' votes on the 'Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.'
That ignoble result puts Kerry's comment on a credibility par with President Obama's recent claim that he articulated 'the world's red line' - not his own - when he first warned Syria's dictator of the consequences of using chemical weapons.
During an interview on MSNBC on September 5, Kerry said that air strikes against the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria would not become yet another U.S. military quagmire, citing his alleged opposition to the Iraq War. 'I think a lot of Americans, a lot of your listeners, a lot of people in the country,' Kerry said, 'are sitting there and saying, "Oh my gosh, this is going to be Iraq, this is going to be Afghanistan, here we go again."'
'I know this, I've heard it,' he continued. 'And the answer is no, profoundly no. You know, Senator Chuck Hagel, when he was senator - Senator Chuck Hagel, now secretary of defense - and when I was a senator, we opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq but we know full well how that [flawed] evidence [about weapons of mass destruction] was used to persuade all of us that authority ought to be given.'
But on October 11, 2002, according to Senate records, both Kerry and Hagel cast 'yea' votes on the 'Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002.'
In an exclusive interview, the billionaire GOP donor offers to help the White House whip the Syria vote - if it's wanted, and needed.
Billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who spent tens of millions of dollars trying to defeat President Obama last year, has a message for the White House: Call me.
In an interview with National Journal, Adelson said he stands behind the White House's push for American military action against the Syrian government. Perhaps as important: Adelson said he's ready, if asked, to roll up his sleeves and help Obama - the "commander in chief," as he repeatedly called him - corral the needed votes in Congress for a strike.
"He is our commander in chief, whether we like what he says politically or not," Adelson said late Monday evening.
The 80-year old Republican, one of the most influential GOP moneymen in the nation, is no Obama apologist. He's still the financier who spent, along with his wife, nearly $100 million trying to defeat Democratic candidates, Obama chief among them, last year. But he is also a pro-Israel hawk who said that America's standing in the world is at stake in the showdown with Syria over chemical weapons.
"I would be willing to help out the administration because I believe it's the right thing to do. He is our only - we don't have any other commander in chief," he said.
The comments are Adelson's first public remarks on the Syria situation, although the Republican Jewish Coalition, an advocacy group that he chairs, did support a Syria strike last week. His offer of a helping hand comes as Russia floated a diplomatic solution in which Damascus would cede its chemical weapons to avoid a strike, something Obama called a potential "breakthrough" on Monday.
© AP Photo/Kin Cheung
Sheldon Adelson offers to call a 'couple handfuls of friends' to drum up support for a Syria strike.
Sheldon Adelson offers to call a 'couple handfuls of friends' to drum up support for a Syria strike.
In an interview with National Journal, Adelson said he stands behind the White House's push for American military action against the Syrian government. Perhaps as important: Adelson said he's ready, if asked, to roll up his sleeves and help Obama - the "commander in chief," as he repeatedly called him - corral the needed votes in Congress for a strike.
"He is our commander in chief, whether we like what he says politically or not," Adelson said late Monday evening.
The 80-year old Republican, one of the most influential GOP moneymen in the nation, is no Obama apologist. He's still the financier who spent, along with his wife, nearly $100 million trying to defeat Democratic candidates, Obama chief among them, last year. But he is also a pro-Israel hawk who said that America's standing in the world is at stake in the showdown with Syria over chemical weapons.
"I would be willing to help out the administration because I believe it's the right thing to do. He is our only - we don't have any other commander in chief," he said.
The comments are Adelson's first public remarks on the Syria situation, although the Republican Jewish Coalition, an advocacy group that he chairs, did support a Syria strike last week. His offer of a helping hand comes as Russia floated a diplomatic solution in which Damascus would cede its chemical weapons to avoid a strike, something Obama called a potential "breakthrough" on Monday.
© RTL
Belgian writer and Syrian hostage Pierre Piccinin said Assad is not to blame for the Ghouta Chemical gas attack
Belgian writer and Syrian hostage Pierre Piccinin said Assad is not to blame for the Ghouta Chemical gas attack
Pierre Piccinin said that he and fellow hostage Domenico Quirico, an Italian war reporter, heard their jailers talking about the chemical weapon attack and saying that Assad was not to blame.
Quirico confirmed to La Stampa newspaper that they had eavesdropped such a conversation through a closed door but added that he had no evidence to substantiate what he heard.
Piccinin said the captives became desperate when they heard that the US was planning to launch a punitive attack against the regime over the gas attack in the Damascus suburb.
Comment: See also:
Assad did not order Syria chemical weapons attack, says German press
Putin: Syria chemical attack is 'rebels' provocation in hope of intervention'
Putin accused Kerry of lying about al-Qaida's involvement in Syria at the G-20 summit
Syria: Associated Press admits White House has no evidence whatsoever
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Comment: This is a stunningly blatant example of how a handful of billionaires completely control the US government. These billionaires want to start a war with Syria because it is GOOD FOR BUSINESS. They make big money off of every bullet and bomb sold, and they reap insane profits from the natural resources stolen from the indigenous populations in the invaded countries. The fact that thousands of innocent Syrians will be slaughtered does not matter to them in the slightest. The fact that American solders will be killed doesn't phase them either. They have no morals, ethics, or empathy... all they have is a pathological, unending desire for more power and money, and they don't care who dies, as long as they get it..