Old hat, that E. This article was written just over a week after the CW attack in Ghouta.
There certainly is a tectonic shift going on in "diplomatic circles" highlighted here
Pepe Escobar wrote:Ay, there's the rub. Everybody knows why the Israeli right will fight an US-Iran agreement like the plague - as Iran as an "existential threat" is the ideal pretext to change the debate from the real issue; the occupation/apartheid regime imposed on Palestine.
As for the House of Saud, such an agreement would be nothing short of Apocalypse Now.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
The United States nearly went to war over the use of chemical weapons in Syria a few months ago - and then backed off, ostensibly swayed by Russia's initiative to have the Syrian government's chemical stockpile shipped out and destroyed - but those who had been saying all along that the White House version of the story was highly problematic just received a major boost from Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
On Sunday, Hersh, who previously exposed the American atrocities at My Lai during the Vietnam War and in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, published a lengthy report in the London Review of Books [1] charging that US President Barack Obama and his top officials had mislead the world with their statements, most notably in two respects: when they claimed that they had strong evidence implicating the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an August 21 chemical weapons attack near the capital Damascus that killed hundreds of civilians, and when they claimed they had no evidence that any of the rebel groups in the country had any chemical weapons or expertise.
Hersh sourced some of his information to "recent interviews with intelligence and military officers and consultants past and present" and described how, in the wake of the August attack, the Obama administration "cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad". The White House fed a carefully manipulated story to the public and the media, Hersh asserted, comparing this process to how both the Vietnam War and the Iraq War started.
He reported that despite what was implied by American officials on several occasions, the US had no advance warning of the attack. Several important intelligence sources that had previously provided sensitive information about the Syrian chemical weapons sites, including a sophisticated sensor network operated jointly with Israel, were either countered by the Syrians or simply did not detect any activity. Instead, the American intelligence community started frantically sifting through immense volumes of stored communication intercepts after the attack took place, looking above all for ways to implicate the Assad regime.
This development vindicates my scepticism of the claims of Assad responsibility of the sarin attack and the assumption that the rebels were behind it was totally far-fetched.
Peace always has been and always will be an intermittent flash of light in a dark history of warfare, violence, and destruction
The United States nearly went to war over the use of chemical weapons in Syria a few months ago - and then backed off, ostensibly swayed by Russia's initiative to have the Syrian government's chemical stockpile shipped out and destroyed - but those who had been saying all along that the White House version of the story was highly problematic just received a major boost from Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh.
On Sunday, Hersh, who previously exposed the American atrocities at My Lai during the Vietnam War and in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, published a lengthy report in the London Review of Books [1] charging that US President Barack Obama and his top officials had mislead the world with their statements, most notably in two respects: when they claimed that they had strong evidence implicating the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in an August 21 chemical weapons attack near the capital Damascus that killed hundreds of civilians, and when they claimed they had no evidence that any of the rebel groups in the country had any chemical weapons or expertise.
Hersh sourced some of his information to "recent interviews with intelligence and military officers and consultants past and present" and described how, in the wake of the August attack, the Obama administration "cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad". The White House fed a carefully manipulated story to the public and the media, Hersh asserted, comparing this process to how both the Vietnam War and the Iraq War started.
He reported that despite what was implied by American officials on several occasions, the US had no advance warning of the attack. Several important intelligence sources that had previously provided sensitive information about the Syrian chemical weapons sites, including a sophisticated sensor network operated jointly with Israel, were either countered by the Syrians or simply did not detect any activity. Instead, the American intelligence community started frantically sifting through immense volumes of stored communication intercepts after the attack took place, looking above all for ways to implicate the Assad regime.
This development vindicates my scepticism of the claims of Assad responsibility of the sarin attack and the assumption that the rebels were behind it was totally far-fetched.
More research backs up Seymour Hersh's view:
A team of security and arms experts, meeting this week in Washington to discuss the matter, has concluded that the range of the rocket that delivered sarin in the largest attack that night was too short for the device to have been fired from the Syrian government positions where the Obama administration insists they originated.
Separately, international weapons experts are puzzling over why the rocket in question – an improvised 330mm to 350mm rocket equipped with a large receptacle on its nose to hold chemicals – reportedly did not appear in the Syrian government’s declaration of its arsenal to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and apparently was not uncovered by OPCW inspectors who believe they’ve destroyed Syria’s ability to deliver a chemical attack.
The more that is revealed about this attack, the more it looks like a botched false flag operation designed to draw NATO into another open ended conflict.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
So we have an Egyptian operated ship sailing with a North Korean flag organised by two Israelis and a Senegalese carnying Libyan oil whose ownership is disputed by some who want Libya to be two countries and others who prefer one, to somewhere beyond Cyprus and heading towards Syria but now captured by Americans. The affair prompted Libya's congress to fire prime minister Ali Zeidan, who fled to Germany. It was American oil - dug up by Marathon/Hess/ConocoPhillips!
Meanwhile, back in Syria, Assad's forces have gained another important victory in Damascus countryside by capturing the city of Yabrood
The capture of Yabrood, along with the town of Al-Zaara last week, means that the "rebels" supply lines from the Lebanon are effectively severed.
Assad's forces have gained the upper hand in this conflict.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
Classic case of "blame the messenger" if ever I saw one. What's the point in shutting down youtube? If youtube didn't exist, it would have been posted somewhere else!
The US has led the chorus of international condemnation, calling the government’s moves "censorship" tantamount to “21st century book-burning.”
The good ol' US standing up for truth, honesty and backing the whistleblowers. Fair play to 'em. Go Murca!
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
The major points from my view:
•Turkey has delivered 2,000 trucks of weapons and ammunition to the insurgents in Syria.
•There are plans for false flag attacks on Turkey or Turkish property to justify an attack from Turkey on Syria.
•The Turkish military has great concerns going into and fighting Syria.
•The general atmosphere between these deciders is one of indecisiveness. Everyone seems to be unclear what Erdogan wants and is waiting for clear orders from above.
•U.S. military has shortly before the meeting presented fresh plans for a no-fly one over Syria.
Then there is the fact in itself that this tape and others leaked. Internal government communication in Turkey and personal communication of Turkish official has been thoroughly compromised. This will hinder future decision making and will erode any trust Turkish government allies may have in it.
A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools - Douglas Adams.
But what never ceases to amaze me is the ability of the Tommy Vietors – like David Cameron before him – to convince first themselves, and then others, that they are able to issue these denunciations without instantly being driven from the public square in shame.
How true. They are rarely hauled over public (or media) coals.
I experience pleasure and pains, and pursue goals in service of them, so I cannot reasonably deny the right of other sentient agents to do the same - Steven Pinker
Deafening silence from the regulars here. I wonder why that is?
Damning evidence of a 'conspiracy theory' maybe which in addition affirms my own suspicion all along that the rebels arranged the sarin attack which was falsely blamed on Assad.
Those who watched the Farage Clegg debate tonight will have noted that Farage is sticking his neck out on Ukraine and Syria. Very refreshing to here some common sense for a change on foreign policy.
Peace always has been and always will be an intermittent flash of light in a dark history of warfare, violence, and destruction
Deafening silence from the regulars here. I wonder why that is?
Damning evidence of a 'conspiracy theory' maybe which in addition affirms my own suspicion all along that the rebels arranged the sarin attack which was falsely blamed on Assad.
Those who watched the Farage Clegg debate tonight will have noted that Farage is sticking his neck out on Ukraine and Syria. Very refreshing to here some common sense for a change on foreign policy.
It looked like a false flag from the start. I notice how billhook has slipped off into the night after all the bollocks he wrote here and elsewhere on this topic back when it initially all kicked off and the USA was trying to build the case for all-out military adventurism.
Not to worry, however, I'm sure he'll be back with fresh bollocks for the next one
