Puppet MastersS


Pumpkin

Operation Tomahawk with cheese

Tomahawk
© Carmichael Yepez
This deafeningly hysterical show of Syria as Iraq 2.0 is only happening because a president of the United States (POTUS) created a ''credibility'' problem when, recklessly, he pronounced the use of chemical weapons in Syria a ''red line''.

Thus the US government urgently needs to punish the transgressor - to hell with evidence - to maintain its ''credibility''. But this time it will be ''limited''. ''Tailored''. Only ''a few days''. A ''shot across the bow'' - as POTUS qualified it. Still, some - but not all - ''high-value targets'', including command and control facilities and delivery systems, in Syria will have to welcome a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missiles (384 are already positioned in the eastern Mediterranean).

We all know how the Pentagon loves to christen its assorted humanitarian liberations across the globe with names like Desert Fox, Invincible Vulture or some other product of brainstorming idiocy. So now it's time to call Operation Tomahawk With Cheese.

It's like ordering a pizza delivery. ''Hello, I'd like a Tomahawk with cheese.'' ''Of course, it will be ready in 20 minutes.'' ''Hold on, wait! I need to fool the UN first. Can I pick it up next week? With extra cheese?''

Chess

'A slow death': How the West's dirty war is destroying Syria's economy

Syrian healthcare
© Spiegel onlineMore than 50 percent of the country's healthcare infrastructure has been destroyed too. Here, a doctor sleeps in a waiting room in Aleppo last year.
Food is scarce in Syria, the currency is collapsing and entire industries have come to a standstill. But not even economic suffering brought on by the civil war will likely help end it.

It's a sector that ought to be booming. Businessman Wissam* works in hospital supplies. He sells bandages, needles and disinfectants -- all products for which there is a great need in the increasingly bloody Syrian civil war. But unfortunately, Wissam has little opportunity to sell his wares.

"More than 50 percent of the Syrian healthcare system's infrastructure has been destroyed," says the man in his mid 40s. Of the 75 state-run hospitals, just 30 remain in operation. In the embattled city of Homs, just one of 20 hospitals remains open. The Al-Kindi Hospital in Aleppo, once the largest and most modern medical facility in the country, is now a pile of ash.

Wissam is matter-of-fact about the situation. The destruction of the hospitals is widespread, he says, and those who are injured or sick receive hardly any medical care. The business is "dying a slow death," he adds.

Comment: The West and the Gulf petro-monarchies must be proud of their campaign of death and destruction. Another destroyed country.


No Entry

German FM rules out his nation's role in military strike against Syria

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
© UnknownGerman Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has ruled out his country's participation in any military against Syria following failure by permanent members of UN Security Council (UNSC) to reach any agreement on the controversial issue.

Westerwelle stated in a partially reported interview with German newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung that such military action had "neither been asked nor is it being considered by us," according to comments published by the newspaper on the interview prior to its Saturday release.

The remarks come following a Russia-called UNSC meeting on Thursday on the developing situation in Syria failed to achieve any results.

The discussions, which lasted for less than an hour, ended as participants failed to reach a consensus with the ambassadors of China, France, Britain, Russia and the United States gradually leaving the talks.

The meeting was the second time the permanent UNSC members met to discuss a draft resolution on Syria submitted by Britain.

Light Sabers

Russia opposed to any UN resolution allowing Syria strikes

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov
© UnknownRussia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov
A top Russian official has reiterated Moscow's opposition to any United Nations Security (UNSC) resolution that would allow a military action against Syria.

"Russia opposes any resolution of the UN Security Council indicating the probability of the use of force [or] any resolution that could be used for military action against Syria," Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Friday as cited in a report by the ITAR-TASS News Agency.

The remark came following an urgent meeting of UNSC's five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - ended Thursday without any agreement on the source of a recent chemical weapons use in Syria and a potential plan of action.

Stop

Best of the Web: Rep. Grayson on Syria strike: Military-industrial complex wants it, Americans don't

Alan Grayson
© (Image: YouTube video screenshot)Alan Grayson
We shouldn't bomb every country that does something bad, Florida Congressman Alan Grayson (D) said on Thursday.

The progressive Democrat told CNN he was opposed to a U.S. military strike against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

"The administration would have to explain why this affects some vital American interest," Grayson said. "I haven't heard any discussion of that at all. I think the only people who really want in to happen are the military industrial complex. I just don't understand how this involves us, Americans."

Obama said Wednesday he was still undecided about an attack against Syria, but he also said the use of chemical weapons violated international norms and Syria needed to be punished.

Stop

U.S. military officers have deep doubts about impact, wisdom of a U.S. strike on Syria

hands off syria
© n/a
The Obama administration's plan to launch a military strike against Syria is being received with serious reservations by many in the U.S. military, which is coping with the scars of two lengthy wars and a rapidly contracting budget, according to current and former officers.

Having assumed for months that the United States was unlikely to intervene militarily in Syria, the Defense Department has been thrust onto a war footing that has made many in the armed services uneasy, according to interviews with more than a dozen military officers ranging from captains to a four-star general.

Vader

Obama has power, determination to make own decision on Syria, administration says

obama war
© unknown
The administration insisted Thursday that President Obama has both the authority and the determination to make his own decision on a military strike against Syria, even as a growing chorus of lawmakers demanded an opportunity to vote on the issue and Britain, the United States' closest ally, appeared unlikely to participate.

Britain's sudden withdrawal came after Prime Minister David Cameron, deserted by rebels in his own Conservative Party, lost a parliamentary vote for provisional authorization for military action in Syria.

Camera

Backstabbing war-hawk Kerry a frequent visitor with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad

Image
John Kerry, who is expected to be nominated as secretary of state later this afternoon, has made frequent visits to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Assad is now under fire for mass murdering his own civilians, as he fights an internal war to keep his position of power. Even Obama has called for Assad to go.

In February 2009, Kerry led a delegation there to engage Syria. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told visiting US members of Congress on Saturday that the United States should 'move away from a policy based on dictating decisions.' Assad's guests on Saturday included US Senator John Kerry, who headed the third delegation this week to call on the Syrian president's door as Washington reviews its policies toward countries the previous administration regarded as hostile. Assad told his visitors that future relations should be based on a 'proper understanding' by Washington of regional issues and on common interests, SANA news agency reported," AFP reported at the time.

Briefcase

Obama strike would not weaken Assad's military strength, experts warn

United Nations
© Ammar Al-Arbini/AFP/Getty ImagesUnited Nations arms experts and opposition fighters in Damascus' eastern Ghouta suburb
White House says any strike would be 'discreet and limited' in statement intended to reflect reluctance to draw US into conflict


The Obama administration's preferred option for a potential strike on Syria is likely to leave Bashar al-Assad's government with significant chemical weapons and military infrastructure, according to military analysts.

Although vice-president Joe Biden said on Thursday that President Obama had yet to take a final decision on attacking the Syrian regime for allegedly gassing civilians on 21 August, administration statements ruled out several military options more severe than aerial bombing or sea-based missile strikes.

In the first confirmation of the scope of any attack, White House principal deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday that Obama was contemplating "something that is discreet and limited."

Alarm Clock

Breaking: UK MPs vote against Syria action

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MPs voted after a long debate on Thursday afternoon
British MPs have voted against possible military action against Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons.

David Cameron said it was clear the British Parliament does not want action and "I will act accordingly".

The government motion was defeated 285 to 272, a majority of 13 votes