Syria

Fake Terror Threat Used To Justify Bombing Syria

September 30, 2014 Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain, www.firstlook.org Educate! Government, ISIS, Media, militarism, Syria, Wars and Militarism

As the Obama Administration prepared to bomb Syria without congressional or U.N. authorization, it faced two problems. The first was the difficulty of sustaining public support for a new years-long war against ISIS, a group that clearly posed no imminent threat to the “homeland.” A second was the lack of legal justification for launching a new bombing campaign with no viable claim of self-defense or U.N. approval. The solution to both problems was found in the wholesale concoction of a brand new terror threat that was branded “The Khorasan Group.” After spending weeks depicting ISIS as an unprecedented threat — too radical even for Al Qaeda! — administration officials suddenly began spoon-feeding their favorite media organizations and national security journalists tales of a secret group that was even scarier and more threatening than ISIS, one that posed a direct and immediate threat to the American Homeland.

Obama’s Propagandistic UN Address

September 28, 2014 Robert Parry, www.consortiumnews/org Educate! Propaganda, Syria, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

An honest person would have described all these events very differently, including what “America stands for.” There could have been at least some acknowledgement of how the United States in the post-World War II era has often relied on “the barrel of a gun” – or cruise missiles and smart bombs – to impose its will on other countries, including “regime change” in Iraq in 2003 and in Libya in 2011. Obama could have acknowledged, too, that the United States has often used coups d’etat to unseat governments not to its liking, even when the leaders have been popularly elected. A partial list would include Mossadegh in Iran in 1953, Arbenz in Guatemala in 1954, Allende in Chile in 1973, Aristide in Haiti twice, Chavez in Venezuela briefly in 2002, Zelaya in Honduras in 2009, Morsi in Egypt in 2013, and now Yanukovych in Ukraine in 2014. But instead Obama chose to present a simplistic, propagandistic version of what has transpired in Ukraine.

The War on ISIS: Views From Syrian Activists and Intellectuals

September 27, 2014 Danny Postel, www.dissentmagazine.org Educate! ISIS, Media, Syria, Wars and Militarism

My support for the Syrian revolution is unconditional and for that reason I am opposed to the U.S. intervention. The United States and its regional allies have done everything to undermine the Syrian revolution. Most importantly they have done so by supporting the Syrian National Coalition against the grassroots movements. U.S. allies such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar initially backed Assad and later funded and equipped the most reactionary forces in the opposition. These same powers (plus Iraq) are now forming a coalition to fight ISIS. But these countries played a major role, directly and indirectly, in making ISIS a regional power. The United States and Saudi Arabia were instrumental in the creation and funding of global jihadism since the 1980s to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan. The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq led to the emergence of al Qaeda in Iraq. Qatar is helping Jabhat al-Nusra while Turkey was, until recently, allowing ISIS to operate freely and cross its borders unchecked. The U.S. intervention in Syria (and Iraq) will kill many innocent civilians. It will also fulfill ISIS’s wish to become the primary anti-American force in the region and thereby help the terrorist organization recruit more fighters.

Syria’s White Helmets — World’s Most Dangerous Job

September 27, 2014 Anna Lekas Miller, www.wagingnonviolence.org Organize! militarism, Peace, Syria

Although many of the residents of liberated areas like Aleppo and Idlib have fled, those that remain — often either the poorest and most vulnerable or most dedicated residents — experience daily indiscriminate shelling and aerial bombardments from the Assad regime, destroying neighborhoods and brutally killing and maiming civilians in the process. Despite the risk of a secondary bombing, a common regime tactic, the White Helmets immediately rush to the site of the bombing, moving aside concrete to pick out bodies and rush anyone who might still be alive to the hospital. “There used to be an uncertainty that a bomb could be dropped at any moments, and — if it happened to be dropped on your house — you would die,”Le Mesurier said. “Now there is hope amongst people that even if their building does collapse, they can be rescued.”

Popular Resistance Newsletter: The People Are Rising, No More Compromising

September 26, 2014 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Climate Change, Education, Police abuse, Syria, Wars and Militarism

Here are more calls for action: Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council issued a statement which urged people to not put “our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industry.” People who came to NYC for the first World Conference of Indigenous Peoples urged that oil and gas be left in the ground and highlighted how Indigenous peoples all over the world are already fighting against extraction. Faith leaders pledged global action for climate justice. Green activists Jill Stein and Ben Manski are calling for a global climate strike as “a next step in the international uprising that insists that another world is possible.” And, a coalition of groups announced consecutive days of action in Washington, DC and elsewhere beginning after the elections.

Five Arrested At White House In Anti-War Protest

September 23, 2014 Anne Meador, DC Media Group, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Iraq, ISIS, Nonviolence, Syria, Wars and Militarism

A few dozen proponents of nonviolence demonstrated in front of the White House the morning after U.S.-led airstrikes on targets in Syria. They attempted to deliver a letter to President Obama calling for drastic changes in policy regarding militarism, poverty and the environment, and they engaged in a civil disobedience action by blocking a White House entrance. Five were arrested. At the same time, President Obama delivered remarks about the airstrikes in front of Marine One on the White House lawn, touting the strength of a multinational coalition. He then departed for the United Nations in New York. Signs at the protest said things such as "No U.S. Military Intervention in Syria,” “Reparations Not More Bombs,” and “There Is No Military Solution." Three demonstrators wore orange jumpsuits and black hoods and carried a banner protesting Guantanamo Bay prison. Several wore blue scarves, symbolizing their identification as global citizens, and expressing solidarity with women and youth in Afghanistan, where the blue scarf movement originated.

Obama Attempts To Bomb Extremism, It Won’t Work

September 23, 2014 Phyllis Bennis, www.PopularResistance Educate! ISIS, Syria, Wars and Militarism

President Obama’s decision to bomb Syria stands in stark violation of international law, the UN Charter, and the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. It contradicts his own commitment, stated a year ago in the UN General Assembly, to reverse Washington’s “perpetual war footing.” And it portends disaster for the people of Syria, the region, and much of the world. The White House stated goal is to destroy the headquarters of the violent and extremist ISIS militia. But you can’t bomb extremism out of existence. The U.S. bombs do not fall on “extremism,” they are falling on Raqqah, a 2,000 year-old Syrian city with a population of more than a quarter of a million people – men, women and children who had no say in the take-over of their city by ISIS. The Pentagon is bombing targets like the post office and the governor’s compound, and the likelihood of large number of civilian casualties as well as devastation of the ancient city, is almost certain.

US Bombs Syria Without UN Or Congressional Authorization

September 23, 2014 Jason Ditz, www.news.antiwar.com Educate! ISIS, Syria, US, Wars and Militarism

The American war on ISIS has expanded into Syria tonight, with Pentagon officials issuing a brief statement claiming credit for a round of about 20 targets hit in northeastern Syria this evening. The attacks involved both the use of US bombers, including F-22 and B1s, fighter warplanes including F-16s, F-15s, and F/A-18s. They’ve also fired Tomahawk cruise missiles from the USS Arleigh Burke in the Red Sea. Details of what was hit are not clear so far, though some reports say that an ISIS headquarters was among the targets. The Pentagon insisted it wouldn’t provide addition details about the “ongoing operations,” but plenty of information continued to emerge in the hours that followed the strike.

How Does This End?

September 19, 2014 Staff, www.bravenewfilms Educate! Iraq, ISIS, Syria, Wars and Militarism

No one is saying that ISIS or al Qaeda or any other extremist organizations are a bunch of nice guys, or that they wouldn’t deserve all the terrible things the US military could do to them. The problem is that we’ve been kicking terrorist ass over the world, but in doing so, we’re not pausing for a moment to consider the unintended consequences. In the 1980s, we decided that the enemy of our enemy, the Soviet Union, would make great friends. We handed off hundreds of millions of dollars to arm and train the Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan. We did not fully understand who these fighters were, nor did we fully appreciate or seem to care about the radical social policies they would enact if they won, so long as they could be a pain in the side of the “evil empire." The problem was that those same fighters included Osama Bin Laden, and future members of the Taliban.

Tell Congress “No” To More War

September 17, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Petitions and Online Actions CODE PINK, Iraq, ISIS, Syria, Wars and Militarism

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Martin Dempsey testified before the war-friendly Senate Armed Services Committee on September 16, 2014 about the extent of the US military's role in fighting Islamic. The hearing was interrupted by peace protesters from CODE PINK and Popular Resistance. Non-Profit Quarerly began noting “The hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday morning began with repeated disruptions from antiwar protesters.” They went on to urge more action from the antiwar movement, writing: “History would suggest that it’s time for the antiwar movement to raise important issues about the U.S. plan to deal with ISIL. Maybe this war against ISIL is different; maybe this is an instance where U.S. military action is necessary to stop ISIL, which has now gathered a large military force and deployed it like a professional army. Maybe ISIL can’t be dealt with the way that the U.S. is addressing Al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia. But it is nevertheless the role of the anti-war movement to engage in and elevate the quality of the debate when American civilian and military leaders contemplate military action overseas.”

Why We Oppose The War On ISIS

September 12, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Iraq, ISIS, Obama, Syria, War crimes, Wars and Militarism

Below are views of people whose voices are not often heard in the corporate media but who have worked on issues of militarism and war for many years. We asked people who recognize that war is not the answer to complex foreign policy issues for their views on President Obama’s recent speech declaring war on ISIS. Obama did not use the word “war” as he prefers to explicitly state what is really happening by talking about “air strikes” and “counter terrorism.” In reality his speech was a declaration of war. And, he says it will last three years, which we suspect underestimates the war-quagmire he is beginning. As we have said in previous columns President Obama needs to get (1) authorization for the use of military force from Congress, and (2) authorization from the United Nations before the attack he has announced. He is not pursuing either but instead has taken on the power to send the United States into a new war on his own.

Release Syrian Political Prisoner Razan Zaitouneh

September 12, 2014 Karam Nachar, www.therepublicgs.net Organize! Human Rights, Political Prisoner, Syria

There was a time, not too long ago, when a young woman headed one of the largest networks of Syrian activists working against the Assad regime. She had blue eyes and uncovered blond hair; she spoke English and held a degree in law; and she was a staunch secularist. But Razan Zaitouneh was utterly uninterested in showcasing any of these ‘qualities’, or in becoming an international icon. She believed in the universality of freedom and human rights, but it was only through very local battles that she thought such values could acquire life and meaning. It was in 2005 that I first heard of Razan. She had taken part in a small demonstration in Damascus, and soon thereafter stories circulated of her exceptional bravery. Razan Zaitouneh had raised chants against the Assad family when, for most Syrians, the mere mention of the president or his father was reason enough to shudder with fear. She had spoken the radical truth when older activists and most international observers were content with their vague demands for ‘reform’ or ‘gradual change’ in Syria.

Perpetual War, And Shame, Is Our Policy

September 11, 2014 Matthew Hoh, www.huffingtonpost.com Educate! Iraq, ISIS, Syria, Wars and Militarism

The United States' official policy in the Middle East is now perpetual war. What has been known for some time, including by those of us who have served overseas, by the millions who have suffered through our bombs and our bullets, and, of course, by the hundreds of thousands whose lives have been ripped from their families and from any promised futures, President Obama solidified last night. The United States, by agreeing to airstrikes without end in support of a corrupt and sectarian government in Baghdad; by championing a Shia and Kurdish invasion of Sunni lands; and by promising arms, munitions and money to rebel groups in the middle of the Syrian Civil War, the same groups that sold Steven Sotloff to his beheading, has adopted a policy that will exacerbate the civil wars in both Iraq and Syria and deepen the nightmare existence of their people. President Obama's speech will be remembered as a mark of moral shame on the United States, so very opposite and so very contradictory to the courage shown by the president five years ago in Cairo, Egypt.

The Hypocrisy of Beheadings: 19 In One Month In Saudi Arabia

September 3, 2014 Tim Stanley, www.telegraph.co.uk Educate! Saudi Arabia, Syria, Wars and Militarism

Human Rights Watch reports that Saudi Arabia has beheaded 19 people since the beginning of August. Some confessions may have been gained under torture and one poor defendant was found guilty of sorcery. Yep, sorcery. That might sound archaic, but we are talking about a regime so very concerned about offending God that it has even banned certain names for being "blasphemous". Sandy, Linda and Elaine have been proscribed for cultural reasons (seriously). Of course, it’s difficult for the West to condemn a country for a liberal use of the death penalty when America does the same all the time. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia’s sudden bump in executions is a reminder of just how strange an ally they are for democracies. Ed West recently produced a masterful blog post asking why the Saudis were so worried about Isil given that the warlords of Iraq have an awful lot in common with the princes of the Kingdom.

The Covert Origins Of ISIS

August 31, 2014 Staff, www.scgnews.com Educate! Iraq, ISIS, Libya, Middle East, Syria, Wars and Militarism

The Islamic militant group ISIS, formerly known as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and recently rebranded as the so called Islamic State, is the stuff of nightmares. They are ruthless, fanatical, killers, on a mission, and that mission is to wipe out anyone and everyone, from any religion or belief system and to impose Shari'ah law. The mass executions, beheadings and even crucifixions that they are committing as they work towards this goal are flaunted like badges of pride, video taped and uploaded for the whole world to see. This is the new face of evil. Would it interest you to know who helped these psychopaths rise to power? Would it interest you to know who armed them, funded them and trained them? Would it interest you to know why?

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