Syria: The Drum Beats of War

Below is a collage of articles about Syria, food for thought.

At what point do Americans question another disasterous mess in the Middle East?

I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists

GLOBAL No War with Syria RALLIES HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY AUGUST 31st AROUND THE WORLD...
PLEASE GET INVOLVED. SHARE THIS TO STOP THIS ILLEGAL AND UNJUST WAR! #NoWarwithSyria

Here's how you can become involved...
...
► PLAN OF ACTION TO OPPOSE ILLEGAL & UNCONSTITUTIONAL WAR W/SYRIA [AS]:

Activists are launching global rallies on Saturday, August 31st in every city and town in the world.

Here's how you get involved:

Go to the FB search bar and search for "No War with Syria Rally (YOUR CITY)" [example: No War With Syria Rally London]

Join the event, invite ALL of your friends to join it as well, then get involved with the locals that are already on the event page to help them in any way you can.

*If there is no event page made for your location yet, please make one. Here's how:

• Click on your event tab from your FB homepage.

• Click "create an event".

• Name the event "No War with Syria Rally (YOUR CITY)" [example: No War with Syria Rally Sydney].

• Make sure you set the privacy to public so other people can find it when they search for it.

• Pick a central and relevant location and start time for your area (please make it Saturday, August 31st).

• Invite ALL of your friends and encourage everyone else to invite their friends as well and do whatever else you can to let people know about the rally.

• Try to get some volunteers together to make banners to do some canvassing on Friday, the night before your rally. Contact the local overpass light brigade or set one up yourself. Make signs.

• Pass out flyers in the days leading up to your rally. If you can't afford them, ask for some donations. Some local businesses may also be willing to help you out with printing.

• Contact other activist groups in your area for help (Occupy groups, anti-war groups, Veterans for Peace groups, Code Pink, civil liberty groups, etc.).

• Contact local media and let them know about your rally. Focus on independent journalists in your area.

• Use hashtag #NoWarwithSyria for your march and use it on FB, Twitter, and Instagram.

• The rest is up to your discretion to handle locally.

THE TIME TO CHANGE THE WORLD AND STOP THE WAR IS NOW. SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH ANYONE AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW, THOUSANDS OF INNOCENT LIVES DEPEND ON IT.

1) Worldwide call for a ceasefire in #Syria
2) Halt of arms sales to both sides.
3) Humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugees
Share your thoughts!

Thank you! Solidarity Worldwide!See More

Well... are you?

Thanks to Living Blue in a Red State.

Robert Reich

We're about to go into Syria. I can't tell you at this point how, but the U.S. is readying an offensive. We're rounding up allies, as we did before we went into Iraq. The White House is preparing the American people, as another White House did before Iraq. But doesn't this at least deserve a real debate? The silence in America is deafening. Didn't we learn anything from Iraq? Or, for that matter, from Vietnam?

 I'm as appalled as anyone by the Syrian regime and its use of chemical weapons on its own people. But what exactly do we expect to achieve by entering this fray? And at what cost -- to us, to the Syrian people, to the tinderbox of the Middle East?

Normally I don't venture into foreign policy, but foreign and domestic policy aren't easily separated. At a time when almost one in four American children is in poverty, when the middle class is struggling to make ends meet, when inequality is widening, and we're dis-investing in infrastructure and education, can we really afford what this initiative could easily mushroom into? We have seen the power of the military-industrial-congressional complex to get its way, to get the dollars it wants, and to sway public opinion in the direction that will be most profitable to it. At the very least, we deserve a full and frank discussion of what the Obama Administration is about to get us into.

Syria: US secretary of state John Kerry calls chemical attack 'cowardly crime' - as it happened

• Kerry: use of chemical weapons 'undeniable'
• Kerry: Little doubt Assad regime behind attack
• Kerry: 'There must be accountability'
• UN inspectors unable to visit six key sites, doctor says

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/middle-east-live/2013/aug/26/syria-crisis-military-action-un-inspectors-vist-chemical-attack

 

Aug 27, 2013

Making War In Syria

By Charles P. Pierce at 9:20AM

Joseph Eid/AFP/GettyImages

It looks as though the skids are properly greased, and the United States will be making some sort of war in Syria pretty soon. I say "making war in Syria" because that's different than going to war in Syria. We aren't sending troops. We're going to be sending cruise missiles and dropping bombs because that is how you make war without going to war and, if you make war without going to war, then it's a lot easier to pretend back home that you're not at war. Again.


Read more: Making War In Syria - Esquire
Follow us: @Esquiremag on Twitter | Esquire on Facebook
Visit us at Esquire.com

US, UK, France push for response to Syrian 'gas attack' as UN chemical probe gets delayed 28 Aug 2013 Even as the UN team investigating the alleged chemical attack in Syria had to postpone their investigation and yielded no results, Western states continued pushing for a "firm response" amid growing speculation a strike could take place within days. A UN spokesperson on Tuesday announced that the planned visit to the site of last week's alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus has been postponed "in order to improve preparedness and safety for the team." Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem also dismissed the claims that the Syrian government was delaying the probe's start, saying that the "UN team did not ask to go to the site until Saturday."

US begins war on Syria as early as Thursday, officials say 27 Aug 2013 Senior American officials say the United States has planned to launch missile strikes against Syria "as early as Thursday" in order to punish Damascus over the alleged use of chemical weapons. The unnamed officials told NBC News on Tuesday that the "three days" of strikes would be limited in scope, and aimed at "sending a message to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad rather than degrading his military capabilities." On Monday night, four US warships were deployed in the Mediterranean within cruise missile range of Syria.

UK gathers warplanes, military hardware in Cyprus base near Syria - report 27 Aug 2013 "Warplanes and military transporters" have reportedly been moved to Britain's Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus in the latest sign of the allied forces' preparations for a military strike on Syria amid bellicose rhetoric against the Syrian government. Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca, Cyprus, claim to have spotted C-130 transport planes from their own aircraft and small formations of possibly European fighter jets from their radar screens, according to the Guardian. Akrotiri airbase is less than 100 miles from Syria, making it a likely hub for a bombing campaign. Residents near the airfield confirmed to the Guardian that "activity there has been much higher than normal over the past 48 hours."

US ready to launch Syria strike, says Chuck Hagel 27 Aug 2013 American forces are "ready" to launch strikes on Syria if President Barack Obama chooses to order an attack, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel says. "We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take," Mr Hagel told the BBC. US Secretary of State John Kerry has said there is "undeniable" proof that Syria used chemical weapons.

Hezbollah will attack Israel if strike aims to topple Assad 28 Aug 2013 A massive military strike by the United States and its Western allies on Syria aimed at changing the balance of power in the country will likely trigger a swift intervention by Hezbollah, political analysts and sources close to the group said Tuesday. Hezbollah's response will likely involve the firing of rockets into Israel, igniting the dormant front in south Lebanon, they added. However, analysts and experts predicted a limited U.S.-led military operation against sites in Syria suspected of stockpiling chemical arms or materials.

Syria slams Western allegations amid looming military intervention 27 Aug 2013 The Syrian government on Monday denied and slammed the allegations of chemical weapon use as the United States along with its Western allies move closer to a military intervention in the Middle East country. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that the West's claims that his government used chemical weapons were "an insult to common sense," noting the United States would face "failure" if it decided to intervene militarily in Syria. He made the remarks in an interview published on Monday with Russian newspaper Izvestia.

Syrian warmongering turning Obama into Bush's 'clone' - Russian MP 25 Aug 2013 US president Barack Obama is repeating the pattern of actions of his [unelected] predecessor, George W. Bush, in his push for a military solution in Syria, Foreign Affairs Committee chairman of the Russian Duma, Aleksey Pushkov said. "Obama is fiercely moving towards war in Syria, just like Bush moved towards war in Iraq. Just like in Iraq, this war won't be legit and Obama will become Bush's clone," Pushkov wrote on his Twitter page on Sunday. Obama and UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, agreed in a phone conversation on Saturday that last week's alleged chemical weapon attack near Damascus was "almost certainly" carried out by Bashar Assad's Syrian government. [Obama was Bush's clone long before either of them could find Syria on a map.]

'No doubt' Syria used chemical arms, says US Vice-President Joe Biden 28 Aug 2013 US Vice-President Joe Biden has said there is "no doubt" that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons and that it must be held accountable. The US has said its military is ready to launch strikes should President Barack Obama order an attack, and allies say they too are ready to act. The Syrian government has strongly denied claims it used chemical weapons.

Russia gives UN forensic proof 'rebels' used chemical weapons in Syria 10 Jul 2013 A day after Syria invited United Nations chemical weapons investigators to talks in Damascus, Russia said on Tuesday it had forensic proof that 'rebels' have used a "lethal" sarin compound and handed its evidence to the UN team for inquiry. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, permanent representative of Russia to the United Nations, told reporters he submitted an analysis, " certified by chemical weapons organizations," in "80 pages of photographs, formulas and graphs" to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon. Churkin said sarin, a colorless, odorless liquid affecting the nervous system, was in a projectile fired by the opposition into the Khan al-Asal section of Aleppo on March 19.

As Syria war escalates, 60 percent of Americans against U.S. intervention: Reuters/Ipsos poll 24 Aug 2013 Americans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria's civil war and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict even if reports that Syria's government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed, a Reuters/Ipsos poll says. About 60 percent of Americans surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria's civil war, while just 9 percent thought President Barack Obama should act.

We Oppose the War on Syria 27 Aug 2013 A new CLG Facebook page has been created -- We Oppose the War on Syria -- join us here. [The main CLG Fb page is here.]