"When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead"

"When logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead"
click pic to reminisce

Why So Syria?  

Posted by howard in nyc in , ,

2013_09_09

21:45

The confused foreign policy of this administration would be comical, were so much not at stake.  The USA's top diplomat makes a careless offhand remark, at the end of a press conference rife with multiple errors spoken by our Secretary of State (detailed here).

Kerry says, a war can be avoided if Assad gives up his chemical weapons by the end of the week.  Assad says, OK, fine.  Hummanma hummanma wait, I didn't really mean it.

Jeebus, where to start?

Well, we've seen two dictators in the same region agree to give up their chemical weapons under US and international pressure.  Saadam, and Kaadafy.  How'd that work out?  They got their asses regime changed anyway.  I'd put my money on three for three.

While we're at it, are we gonna ask Israel to give up their chemical weapons too?  Are we gonna give up ours?

While I am confident the USA has an arsenal of poison gas which our leaders have no intention of relinquishing, I really don't care about that.  Because it is a matter of physical fact that napalm, Agent Orange, depleted uranium and white phosphorus are chemical weapons.  And a matter of historic fact is that the USA has used these chemicals to kill people.  Recently too; not way back in the ancient history of Vietnam.  All these were used in Iraq and Afghanistan.  

Yet our leaders, with straight faces, profess to punish someone else for using chemical weapons to kill.  The punishment?  We are gonna Kill Syrians to show Syria that Killing Syrians is wrong.

I can't decide which is worse, that millions of Americans agree, or that millions of Americans would agree were this a GOP president doing the same thing, or that millions of Americans cannot be bothered to pay attention.  I'll go with 'C', just barely.

The fake morality of the whole spectacle is just the worst.  The fairy tale that we are so Morally Outraged by the murderous Assad regime that the policemen of the world must murder, and/or change regime.  Even a child can see this warmongering of the past two decades, continuing through this day and hour, has nothing to do with morality.

There are the many many instances of truly outrageous mass murder which passes unpunished.  There are many, many people and groups that benefit greatly from warfare in particular places, usually where there happens to be oil and gas.  Moral outrage is a convenient excuse, nothing more.

This war is probably gonna happen, regardless of Obama's stumbling and Kerry's bumbling.  Regardless of all the lies, contradictions and misstatements shoveled in our general direction over the past three weeks.  Regardless of the blatant illogic of doubling down on our financial support of the same muslim extremists who are our sworn enemy of the past twenty years (the first World Trade Center bombing), by being their Air Force.   

Too many people want this war.  They don't give a fuck about morality, popular opinion, or anything other than power, money, and getting what they want.  A much larger number of too many people don't care enough to stand up and stop them.  It might be delayed a few weeks or months; maybe we'll get lucky again.

0 comments »

World War III, Delayed For Now  

Posted by howard in nyc

2013_09_01
18:00

The absolute madness of pouring gasoline and Tomahawk missiles onto the flames of the proxy civil warfare in Syria has been put on hold.  The price, further loss of credibility in the honor and logic of the foreign policies of both our nation and our current puppet in a nice suit, a huge bargain.  I don't even mind the Obama apologists, sycophants and fan bois praising his restraint, morality or strategic/political insight; you go on! Yeah, genius! I won't even bring up the self-contradictory empty rhetoric of the past weeks or the abundant evidence of Obama's feckless incompetence hidden behind generally good, sometimes exceptional public relations.  Oops, I just did; just ignore that lapse in manners as most of reality is ignored these days.

I'll take a few days/weeks/even months of delay in adding overt American military involvement in a battlefield already crowded with Hezballah brigades, Iranian advisers, Al Qaada gangs, Russian weapons and occasional Israeli air strikes.  Our contributions to date of weapons, cash, CIA operatives and various special forces troops are plenty, for the time being.

But now, we are going to be required, as good little sheep, to follow the deliberations and political machinations of our wise representatives in Congress to decide this huge moral issue, regarding entry into yet another war.

Nope.  Not me.  Not the Kid.  No fucking way will I watch a minute of this latest charade for our entertainment and mental enslavement.

 I literally could not possibly care less how the US Senate and the so-called House of Representatives votes on this matter.  Because what they do has zero connection to any objective reality, regarding war, peace or democracy in our country.

The 535 voting members of the US Congress have been for a number of years, and continue to be, completely bought and paid for.  With a few exceptions, numbering maybe in the low double digits, they do not represent the people of their districts and states.

They represent, and they do the bidding of the people that pay them.  They do as they are told by the very small number of parties that provide the financing of their campaigns.  Those same small number of parties lobby those voting members, which is a polite way of saying 'tell them how to vote and what to do'.

This applies for the momentous decision whether to start WW3 this month, or set it aside for the future.

We will be treated to the farcical concept that the will of the American people will be expressed by this Congressional vote.  An old joke that stopped being funny around the time the Patriot Act was passed.  That was annoying each time the Patriot Act was renewed.  That became downright offensive when the TARP bailout of Wall Street, initially rejected by Representatives who were actually representing, was pushed through via bribes, promises, and reminders of who was really in charge of this country.  The unfunny joke is merely a fairy tale that millions still believe.  That the will and desire of the actual people of this country matters a wit, in matters of war and wealth.

American involvement in war in Syria will be decided by the bankers, by the MIC, by the oil and gas conglomerates, by the rest of the big business community, by AIPAC/Israel, by the usual suspects.  Congress will not make the decision.  Congress will be told how to vote, or their vote will be negated.  All it takes is a new 'terrorist attack', or a sinking of an American warship, or closure of a key canal/strait through which oil flows, or even Obama deciding, 'fuck Congress; Ima gunna attack anyways' and making up some bullshit cover story based on 'intelligence' (now that term never ceases to crack me up, so there is that).

The vote up or down in Congress is already determined.  Or it isn't.  It doesn't matter how they vote.  Because if they vote 'yes' and those in control want 'no', it will be NO.  Or vice-versa; if Congress says 'no', they'll just fake an attack on Americans or change some other variable, and it will be on like Major Kong.  What Congress does over the next two weeks makes zero difference; I will not be pretending otherwise.

If what the Congress decided actually counted, they'd make it illegal.

0 comments »
Newer Posts Older Posts