William Blum

Many people seem to have really learned something from the Iraqi pile of lies and horror and from decades of other American interventions.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “There is no doubt that Saddam al-Assad has crossed the red line. … Sorry, did I just say ‘Saddam’?”

A US drone has just taken a photo of Mullah Omar riding on a motorcycle through the streets of Damascus. 1

So what do we have as the United States refuses to rule out an attack on Syria and keeps five
warships loaded with missiles in the eastern Mediterranean?

● Only 9 percent of Americans support a US military intervention in Syria. 2

● Only 11% of the British supported a UK military intervention; this increased to 25% after the announcement of the alleged chemical attack. 3

● British Prime Minister David Cameron lost a parliamentary vote August 29 endorsing military action against Syria 285-272

● 64% of the French people oppose an intervention by the French Army. 4 “Before acting we need proof,” said a French government spokesperson. 5

● Former and current high-ranking US military officers question the use of military force as a punitive measure and suggest that the White House lacks a coherent strategy. “If the administration is ambivalent about the wisdom of defeating or crippling the Syrian leader, possibly setting the stage for Damascus to fall to Islamic fundamentalist rebels, they say, the military objective of strikes on Assad’s military targets is at best ambiguous.”6

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Stephen Lendman

Candidate Obama pledged hope, peace and change.
President Obama delivered duplicity, war and betrayal.

It didn't surprise. His Senate voting record warned. It was way right-of-center. It showed where he stands. His tenure as president does writ large. He's no man of the people.

He's soulless, anti-progressive, anti-populist, anti-labor, anti-fairness, anti-dissent, anti-democratic, anti-freedom, anti-civil and human rights, anti-environmental sanity, and anti-government of, by and for everyone equitably.

His rap sheet exceeds the worst of his predecessors. He's hard-right, reactionary, belligerent, pro-business, and pro-war. He's waging it nonstop.

He's doing so on humanity. He's done it throughout his tenure. He assures lots more ahead. He prioritizes advancing America's imperium. He seeks unchallenged global dominance.

He's doing so through the barrel of the gun. He's pistol-whipping countries into submission. He's doing it by destroying one after another.

He's waging war on peace. He claims it's for peace. He lied saying so. He's a serial liar. He's a moral coward. He's a war criminal multiple times over. He heads a repressive homeland police state apparatus. He's done what his supporters thought impossible. He's done it at home and abroad. He exceeds the worst of George Bush.

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A Short Comment by Paul Craig Roberts

Many are asking what can be done to stop the pending US attack on Syria. Two things can be done.

One is for the US Congress to realize that it does not save America’s face for Congress to endorse a policy that has been rejected by the rest of the world, including Washington’s closest ally, Great Britain. For Congress to endorse what the UN Secretary General and the President of Russia have made unequivocally clear would be a war crime under international law harms, not rescues, America’s reputation. Doing the wrong thing to save face does not succeed.

In the event that Congress fails to understand the real stakes and votes to support a criminal action, the second thing that can be done to stop the attack is for most other countries in the world–China, India, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Iran, South Africa, the European and South American countries–to add their clear unequivocal statements to those of the UN General Secretary and President Putin that an American attack on Syria that is not authorized by the UN Security Council is a war crime. Expression by the governments of the world of this truthful statement would make it clear to Washington that it is isolated from the world community.

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