Bill Van Auken

This screenshot shows "Free Syrian Army", or FSA, "rebel" forces
launching a Sarin gas attack on a Syrian village. (World Net Daily)

Another and even more catastrophic Middle East war can be stopped only through the revival of a genuine antiwar movement.

Obama administration officials scrambled Monday to preserve Washington’s pretext for war on Syria, after both Moscow and Damascus welcomed an apparently off-hand remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry that US aggression could be avoided if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad surrendered its chemical weapons.

Asked by a CBS reporter at a joint press conference Monday with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London if there was anything that could forestall the planned US war on Syria, Kerry responded:

“Sure. He could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week. Turn it over, all of it, without delay, and allow a full and total accounting for that. But he isn’t about to do it, and it can’t be done, obviously.”

Kerry’s summary dismissal of this proposal notwithstanding, it was swiftly taken up by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who declared following a meeting with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moallem,

“If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we will immediately start working with Damascus.”

He said that Moscow would call upon its Syrian ally to place all chemical weapons under international control, agree to their destruction and sign the international treaty banning the weapons.

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Stephen Lendman

Russian Foreign Sergei Lavrov wants peace. He's going all out against war on Syria. He's doing it responsibly. Important world leaders back him. So does overwhelming global anti-war sentiment.

On Monday, Lavrov met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. He did so in Moscow. Hes aid:

"We are calling on the Syrian authorities not only agree on putting chemical weapons storages under international control, but also for its further destruction and then joining the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We have passed our offer to Muallem and hope to receive a fast and positive answer."

Al-Moallem pledged "full cooperation with Russia to remove any pretext for aggression." Lavrov promised Moscow's support. He's trying to broker a diplomatic solution. In return, he wants Obama to cancel attack plans. He cited John Kerry saying Assad

"could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week." "Turn it over, all of it without delay and allow (a) full and total accounting, but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done."

Doing it would avoid military intervention, Kerry said. Damage control followed his statement. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki reinterpreted his comments.

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Stephen Lendman

Obama continues what Bush began. He wants another US colony. He wants an Israeli rival removed.

Previous articles discussed the Israeli Lobby's rage for war on Syria. AIPAC and 50 other Zionist organizations endorse it. They threaten world peace. They want Israeli interests served. Ravaging and destroying Syria does so. Much greater stakes are involved.

Syria is prelude to attacking Iran. It's Israel's prime target. Washington wants subservient pro-Western governance replacing its sovereign independence.

On September 3, AIPAC headlined "Press Statement on Syrian Resolution," saying:

"AIPAC urges Congress to grant the President the authority he has requested to protect America’s national security interests and dissuade the Syrian regime's further use of unconventional weapons."

"The civilized world cannot tolerate the use of these barbaric weapons, particularly against an innocent civilian population including hundreds of children."

"Simply put, barbarism on a mass scale must not be given a free pass."

"This is a critical moment when America must also send a forceful message of resolve to Iran and Hezbollah - both of whom have provided direct and extensive military support to Assad."

"The Syrian regime and its Iranian ally have repeatedly demonstrated that they will not respect civilized norms."

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