There were plenty of proxy wars during the Cold War only back then the principals had enough sense to avoid direct clashes. That was then, this is Syria where today we find the rival superpowers circling each other inside the same phone booth. You could search the world over and
Continue readingTag: Assad
The Disaffected Lib: The Final Chapter for Bashar Assad
Things are not looking up for Syrian strongman, Bashar Assad. His first problem is the Sunni Muslim coalition of Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia (ordinarily not the best of friends) that has materialized for the sole purpose of running Assad out of Damascus. The advances are not only a sign
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Vijay Prashad on anti-imperialism [video]: the ‘third way’ on Syria
I concur with most of what Vijay Prashad is arguing in this video talk except to say that there is a lot more at stake in Syria than for example Libya, in terms of the power balance in the Middle East. When the NATO attack on Libya got underway some
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: U.N. Team Finds No Proof of Chemical Weapons Use in Syria
The report of a U.N. weapons inspection team finds that Assad forces have plenty to answer for but can’t be shown responsible for chemical attacks. “On the evidence currently available, it was not possible to reach a finding about the chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrators,” the
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Why Does John Kerry Make Me Think of This Guy?
Obama’s secretary of state John Kerry says there exists “undeniable” evidence of a recent chemical weapons attack in Syria. Of course he’s not actually saying it was the Assad government behind the attack. There are plenty of Bad Actors afoot in Syria who might have been willing to do some
Continue readingdrive-by planet: George Galloway warns against western intervention in Syria: speech on video
In this speech George Galloway is in top rhetorical form. He takes a few well aimed shots at western hypocrisy, pointing out that while the U.S. et al are allied with some of the most reactionary and undemocratic regimes in the region they nevertheless talk about bringing democracy to Syria.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks. The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks.
The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it now believes the Syrian government did use chemical weapons, arming the rebels is now a moral imperative. However the often under-reported and plainly ignored facts strongly suggest it was not the Syrian government that used chemical weapons, but the rebels.
Besides of course that a significant amount of rebels belong to Jabhat al-Nusra a group classified as terrorists by the US and the UN, perhaps the most striking evidence that the Syrian rebels used chemical weapons is that a large portion of those who died from them are government soldiers.
Time World has reported that there are four alleged instances of chemical weapon use in Syria with other news agencies reporting that in at least one of these the majority of deaths were pro-Assad forces.
From Time, June 5 2013: “On Monday, the U.N. panel charged with investigating Syria’s hostilities issued a report in Geneva, saying that there was evidence that “limited quantities of toxic chemicals” had been used in four attacks in March and April, twice in Aleppo, once in Damascus, and once in Idlib.”
In March of this year both Fox News And Reuters confirm that most of the deaths in a chemical weapon attack in Aleppo were government forces: “Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Reuters that 16 Syrian Army soldiers were killed in the explosion, and 10 others died in a local hospital. He did not elaborate whether they were soldiers or civilians.”
The idea that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would use chemical weapons to kill his own soldiers who at the time were fighting the rebels is just one of the many inconsistencies in the US narrative in this civil war.
Another is that Assad, who knew using chemical weapons would bring US intervention, would have little reason to fire them, especially since his forces have had the upper hand for months. And not only did he not have a reason to use them, but using them to only kill a total of 100 to 150 people in four separate incidences would be inefficient; more traditional rockets and firepower are more accurate and far cheaper.
On top of all this is of course the fact that the UN has not only reported there is no evidence that Assad used chemical weapons, but that a UN inspector, independently, said it was the rebels who were the ones who used chemical weapons, which just so happens to explain why so many Syrian soldiers died from them.
Nonetheless, the United States has decided, despite the inconsistencies in its justification, to intervene in Syria’s civil war.
And because of that some may draw parallels between US involvement in Iraq with Syria, but some caution is required. Yes, both involved fictitious weapon allegations and will only lead to more violence, more extremists, and more years if not decades of instability, but this time a government gets overturned, a nation is ruined, and millions of lives are affected without any Americans getting their boots dirty.
Smell that? That’s progress.
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why US Narrative On Syria’s Chemical Weapons Stinks
The thing about chemical weapons is that an odor usually follows their use, what is odd about Syria is that it is the United States’ decision to arm the rebels that stinks. The US, despite its poor track record of linking weapons to nations, has recently announced that because it
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian civil war has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong. The rebels are wrong of course because this war started, not because the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but because Assad was overzealous in repressing terrorists. Today it
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian civil war has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong.The rebels are wrong of course because this war started, not because the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but beca…
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why The Syrian Rebels Are Wrong
The Syrian Civil War has been raging for so long that nobody remembers why the rebels are wrong. The rebels are wrong of course because the Syrian Civil War started, not because Assad was overzealous in repressing protesters, but because Assad was overzealous in repressing terrorists. Today it is admitted
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Smuggled samples from Syria test positive for sarin claim UK, France
According to a Guardian report “medical samples smuggled out of Syria have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin.“: The Foreign Office confirmed that body fluids collected from victims of one or more attacks in the country were found to contain a chemical fingerprint of sarin at the Ministry of
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