{"article":{"id":263010,"heading":"Obama Shifts Closer to War on Syria","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2014-02-05 07:44:42","modified":"2014-02-05 07:44:42","last_modified":"Wed, 05 Feb 2014 14:44:42","article":"

Obama Shifts Closer to War on Syria

by Stephen Lendman

In March 2011, Obama launched proxy war on Syria. Regime change remains policy.

Peace talks are subterfuge. They're fake. Geneva II reflects more sideshow than substance.

Washington abhors peaceful conflict resolution. Human suffering doesn't matter. Conflict continues unabated. January perhaps was the deadliest month so far. An estimated 6,000 or more died.

So-called \"humanitarian war\" was planned years ago. Full-scale implementation could come any time.

On the sidelines of the just concluded Munich Security Conference, John Kerry met privately with 15 congressional members.

He acknowledged diplomatic failure. He stopped short of saying Washington planned it that way.

On February 3, the Washington Post headlined \"Senators say John Kerry admitted US failure in Syria.\"

John McCain (R. AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R. SC) said he acknowledged failing diplomatically.

So-called \"new approaches\" are needed, he stressed. According to Graham:

\"He acknowledged that the chemical weapons (removal) is being slow-rolled, the Russians continue to supply arms, (and) we are at a point now where we are going to have to change our strategy.\"

Obama launched conflict for regime change. Tactics shift to meet policy. Washington's proxy war failed. Will direct US intervention follow?

Assad continues to be wrongfully blamed for insurgents' crimes. So-called peace talks were designed to fail.

Syrian National Coalition (SNC) delegates are US stooges. They're self-serving. They represent Washington. They're mindless of what Syrians want.

They support war. They deplore peace. Extremist elements aren't involved in talks. They comprise Washington's main fighting force.

What chance have talks to succeed with main anti-Assad elements not participating? So-called SNC\/Free Syria Army fighters are minor players in what's going on.

Terrorists comprise Assad's main opposition. Moderates practically don't exist. Washington relies on Al Qaeda and similar insurgent groups. Assad gets wrongfully blamed for their worst atrocities.

Kerry supports escalated aggression. He wants greater US involvement. He wants arms flowing more freely.

\"This is not surprising because all along (he) wanted more vigorous action,\" said McCain. \"I said to John on the way out: 'Don't make it a half measure.' I said you've really got to do something to change the momentum.\"

State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki disputes what McCain and Graham said. Her job entails damage control.

\"This is a case of members projecting what they want to hear and not stating the accurate facts of what we discussed,\" she claimed.

A previous article said what's ongoing bears eerie resemblance to events preceding Bush's Iraq war. It's much like what led up to Obama's Libya war.

Lies substituted for truth. All wars are based on them. Kerry addressed Munich Security Conference attendees.

He threatened Assad. He suggested invoking UN Charter Chapter 7 authorization for military force to \"restore international peace and security.\"

Doing so would launch aggressive war. Intervention requires Security Council approval.  Russia and China won't permit it.

A previous article said America wages wars without UN authorization. Presidents act without congressional approval.

Does Kerry have this in mind now? Does Obama? Is another major false flag planned? Wars require pretexts to wage them.

They're easy to invent. They're a US tradition. They date from the mid-19th century. America waged war on Mexico this way.

It repeated against Spain in Cuba. Woodrow Wilson used convenient pretexts for America's WW I involvement.

Roosevelt manipulated Japan to attack Pearl Harbor. He did it to get the war he wanted. Truman acted the same way against North Korea.

South Korean cross-border incursions provoked Pyongyang's June 1950 response. Truman waged war without declaring it.

Johnson's Southeast Asian war followed the fake August 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident.

In October 1983, Reagan invaded Grenada for contrived reasons. In December 1989, manufactured incidents preceded GHW Bush's Panama war.

In August 1990, he colluded with Kuwait against Saddam. He manipulated him to invade. Bush got the Gulf War he wanted.

Destroying the cradle of civilization followed later. The 9\/11 false flag Big Lie launched wars without end.

Plans call for ravaging and destroying one country after another. Multi-trillions of dollars are spent doing so.

Imagine how much beneficial social change a small portion of what's spent on militarism and wars could achieve.

Imagine sustained peace in our time becoming official US policy. Imagine the enormous difference it would make.

Imagine the millions of lives saved. Imagine America a fit place to live in. Imagine political Washington dedicated to nothing less.

Imagine populism replacing plundering the world for profit and dominance. Imagine a real American dream.

Imagine it coming true. Imagine humanity benefitting. Maybe some day. For sure not now. Not anytime soon. Maybe never. Who knows.

Multiple direct and proxy wars continue. Waging them is longstanding US policy.

Is direct US intervention against Syria next? Will other wars follow? Will Iran be targeted?

Will Obama's Asia pivot initiate them in new theaters? Will Russia and China be targeted? Will advancing America's military footprint risk WW III?

Obama already is America's most reckless warrior president? Does he plan adding more bloodletting to his rap sheet?

Peace is verboten. Permanent war is official policy. They persist without end. Post-9\/11, Dick Cheney said they'll continue throughout our lifetime.

The Pentagon calls it America's \"long war.\" Gore Vidal called it \"perpetual war for perpetual peace.\"

\"Our rulers for more than half a century have made sure that we are never to be told the truth about anything that our government has done to other people, not to mention our own,\" he said.

Imperial priorities matter most. America's entire history is blood-drenched. Waging war for peace is a convenient illusion.

Enemies are invented to initiate conflicts. America spends more on militarism than the rest of the world combined. Popular needs go begging.

Wars segue to new ones. An endless cycle of mass slaughter, destruction and human suffering follow.

The business of America is war. It's the national pastime. It's heading America for full-blown tyranny and ruin.

Militarists run things. They're ideologically over-the-top. They make peace impossible. What's ahead bears close watching. Signs suggest plenty of reasons to worry.

A Final Comment

Anti-Assad media wars rage. Readers and viewers are carpet bombed with misinformation. Accurate news and views are nonexistent. Propaganda substitutes.

Major media bias is longstanding. It's relentless. It's blatant when America goes to war or plans one.

Washington Post editors are notorious hawks. They're militantly anti-Syrian. On February 3, they headlined \"The US must reconsider its failed Syrian policy.\"

They accused Assad of \"refus(ing) to engage in the discussion of a new government...\" Geneva II has nothing to do with arranging his departure.

It's about fighting terrorism. It's to end conflict. It's to restore peace. It's to let Syrians decide their future.

International law supports them. They alone have sole right to decide who'll lead them. Outside interference is prohibited.

WaPo editors wrongfully accused Assad of \"deliberately starv(ing) (civilians) of food and medicine.\" He's committed to supplying what's needed.

US-supported death squads prevent delivering humanitarian aid. They bear full responsibility for what's happening. Don't expect WaPo editors to explain.

They barely stopped short of urging bombs away. They've been hawkish throughout many months of conflict. They consistently point fingers the wrong way.

David Edwards is Media Lens co-editor. It's an invaluable resource. It \"offers authoritative criticism of mainstream media bias and censorship, as well as providing in-depth analysis, quotes, media contact details and other resources.\"

On February 4, Edwards said:

\"If corporate media performance on Iraq was shocking, the response to Syria is made worse precisely because the lessons from Iraq could hardly be more obvious.\"

\"We know how the Iraqi 'threat' was demonised with hyped atrocity tales, invented 'links to al Qaeda' and non-existent WMD(s).\"

\"We know the West was all along the real threat, using 'diplomacy' to achieve, not avoid, a war for control of Iraq and its oil.\"

The same scenario repeated in Libya. Syria is Act 3. Are ordinary people so out of touch with reality not to understand?

Maybe it'll take war at home to awaken them? Maybe they need to experience war horrors up close and personal.

America's war on humanity won't end without massive public opposition.

It's long past time imperial Washington got slapped down hard. Survival depends on it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.

His new book is titled \"Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.\"

http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/a>

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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