Elahi-Siddiqui

In his speech on Tuesday night, President Obama made an appeal to a largely skeptical American public to support the use of military force in Syria. And he did so, by evoking images that were sure to tug at all of our hearts — images of the Syrian children who had died in the chemical weapons attack in Damascus on August 21. But as Obama continues to voice his outrage against the plight of the Syrian children (which, by the way, he should) he is neglecting to even acknowledge the plight of the Pakistani and Yemeni children who are being killed, not by chemical weapons, but by America’s very own drones.

For long, proponents of the drone war, including Obama who has authorized over 300 strikes in just Pakistan, have held that the strikes are precise and successful in their goal to attack only those deemed to be a security threat to the U.S.

However, just one look at the number of civilians injured or killed by the strikes proves that this narrative is a false one. Between 2004 and 2013, the number of known civilians killed via drone strikes in just Pakistan is said to be up to 900. Of those, close to 200 have been children. In Yemen, American drones are responsible for the deaths of nearly 400 civilians, of which, at least 25 are children.

According to U.N Ambassador Samantha Power, "These weapons kill in the most gruesome possible way. They kill indiscriminately. They are incapable of distinguishing between a child and a rebel."

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Jean Shaoul

Publicly, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had sought for days to present Israel’s response to the delayed assault on Syria as restrained and supportive. He did not want to appear as though Israel is pushing for war, and banned his ministers from expressing their opinions on the subject.

President Shimon Peres defended President Barack Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval for a military attack on Syria, saying he was “confident the US will respond against Syria… I think it’s permitted to carefully consider a decision beforehand rather than after, and I trust him on anything connected to Israel.”

Netanyahu had said little on the Syrian situation, beyond stating that Israel is not involved but would respond severely if attacked. Unusually, he did not give the traditional Jewish New Year interviews so as not to have to answer any questions about Syria or the possibility of a US attack. He cancelled a planned trip to Rome last week to meet Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta and US Secretary of State John Kerry, who had planned to be there at the same time, in order to manage the political line in Israel. Instead, Kerry flew to Israel yesterday to discuss the Syrian crisis with Netanyahu.

Israel’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, claimed that Obama’s announcement to seek Congressional approval had taken Israel by surprise despite reports that Netanyahu was warned in advance—but uttered not a word of disappointment or criticism.

This show of unity fell apart when the Obama administration opted to engage in the Russian government’s proposal for Syria’s chemical disarmament, hoping that the process would create a new pretext for war.

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Glen Ford

When presidents fail, it is a public spectacle. In his rush into unprovoked war against Syria, President Obama overplayed his hand. Shortly before he appeared on television on Tuesday, “Obama’s handlers advised him that his political position was, for the time being, untenable.” But he’ll soon be back on the warpath, meaner and more aggressive than ever.

It was a strange speech, in which the real news was left for last, popping out like a Jack-in-the-Box after 11 minutes of growls and snarls and Obama’s bizarre whining about how unfair it is to be restrained from making war on people who have done you no harm. The president abruptly switched from absurd, lie-based justifications for war to his surprise announcement that, no, Syria’s turn to endure Shock and Awe had been postponed. The reader suddenly realizes that the diplomatic developments had been hastily cut and pasted into the speech, probably only hours before. Obama had intended to build the case for smashing Assad to an imperial peroration – a laying down of the law from on high. But his handlers threw in the towel, for reasons both foreign and domestic. Temporarily defeated, Obama will be back on the Syria warpath as soon as the proper false flag operations can be arranged.

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