The Real Reason We Are Bombing Syria

Dennis J. Kucinich

Former 16-year member of the U.S. Congress and two-time U.S. presidential candidate

The administration’s response to the conjunction of this weekend’s People’s Climate March and the International Day of Peace?

1) Bomb Syria the following day, to wrest control of the oil from ISIS which gained its foothold directly in the region through the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Jordan funding and arming ISIS’ predecessors in Syria.

2) Send the president to UN General Assembly, where he will inevitably give a rousing speech about climate and peace, while the destruction of the environment and the shattering of world peace is on full display 5,000 miles away.

Nothing better illustrates the bankruptcy of the Obama administration’s foreign policy than funding groups that turn on the U.S. again and again, a neo-con fueled cycle of profits for war makers and destruction of ever-shifting “enemies.”

The fact can’t be refuted: ISIS was born of Western intervention in Iraq and covert action in Syria.

This Frankenstein-like experiment of arming the alleged freedom-seeking Syrian opposition created the monster that roams the region. ISIS and the U.S. have a curious relationship — mortal enemies that, at the same time, benefit from some of the same events:

a) Ousting former Iraqi President Nouri al Maliki for his refusal to consent to the continued presence of U.S. troops in his country.

b) Regime change in Syria.

c) Arming the Kurds so they can separate from Iraq, a preliminary move to partitioning Iraq.

What a coincidence for war-profiteering neo-cons and the war industry, which has seen its stock rise since last week’s congressional vote to fund the rapid expansion of war. We have met the enemy and he isn’t only ISIS, he is us.

Phase two of the war against Syria is the introduction of 5,000 “moderate” mercenaries (as opposed to immoderate ones), who were trained in Saudi Arabia, the hotbed of Wahhabism, at an initial installment cost of $15 billion. These new “moderates” will replace the old “moderates,” who became ISIS, just in time for Halloween.

The administration, in the belief that you can buy, rent, or lease friends where they otherwise do not exist, labor under the vain assumption that our newfound comrades-in-arms will remain in place during their three-year employment period, ignoring the inevitability that those “friends” you hire today could be firing at you tomorrow.

One wonders if Saudi training of these moderate mercenaries will include methods of beheading which were popularized by the Saudi government long before their ISIS progeny took up the grisly practice.

The U.S. is being played.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia can now overtly join with the U.S. in striking Syria, after they have been covertly attempting for years to take down the last secular state in the region. We are now advancing the agenda of the actual Islamic States — Saudi Arabia and Qatar — to fight the ersatz Islamic State of ISIS.

Now U.S. bombs and missiles might inadvertently “make the world safe” for theocracy rather than democracy. Today we read reports that Israel has shot down a Syrian warplane, indicating the terrible possibility of a wider regional conflict.

What does this have to do with the security of the 50 States United? Nothing!

Last week Congress acted prematurely in funding a war without following the proscriptions of Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. (The day of the vote, I urged Congress to resist this dangerous and misguided legislation.) But even while the funding was given, the explicit authorization to go to war was not. To authorize a war, Congress must vote for war. It has not done that yet.

To sell its case, the administration is borrowing from the fear mongering tactics of the Bush administration. ISIS poses no direct, immediate threat to the United States —The White House even said so yesterday, just hours before bombing commenced – yet we are being sold make-believe about ISIS sleeper cells.

This attack on Syria, under the guise of striking ISIS, is by definition, a war of aggression. It is a violation of international law. It could lead to crimes against humanity and the deaths of untold numbers of innocent civilians. No amount of public relations or smooth talking can change that.

And yes, members of this Democratic administration, including the president who executed this policy, must be held accountable by the International Criminal Court and by the American people, who he serves.

But as we know, war is a powerful and cynical PR tactic. I expect the bombing of Syria will momentarily boost the White House’s popularity with self-serving heroic accounts of damage inflicted upon ISIS (and the U.S. equipment they use). Stuffing the November ballot box with bombs and missiles may even help the Democratic Party retain the Senate.

But after the election the voters will discover that the president played into the hands of extremists, hurt civilians, and embroiled our country deep into another conflict in the Middle East.

There were alternatives. The U.S. and the international community could have contained and shrunk ISIS by cutting off its funds and its revenue from sale of oil on the black market. We could have looked to strike a deal with Syria and Iran.

In foreign policy, the administration has failed. Congress has failed. Both the Democratic and Republican Parties have passed the national checkbook to their patrons in the war contracting business. And passed the bill to future generations.

The American people, who in 2008 searched for something redemptive after years of George W. Bush’s war, realize in 2014 that hope and change was but a clever slogan. It was used to gain power and to keep it through promoting fear, war, the growth of the National Security state, and an autumnal bonfire of countless billions of tax dollars which fall like leaves from money trees on the banks of the Potomac.

Follow Dennis J. Kucinich on Twitter:www.twitter.com/Dennis_Kucinich

 

France’s far-right National Front Party Leader Marine Le Pen forces Muslim and Jewish pupils to eat pork

Marine Le Pen

Can you believe this arrogance? Who do they think they are, simply attacking every human rights they can find?

That women is a lawyer, and she is blindly ignoring basic human rights

First they banned all Females to wear face cover, as recommended by Islam.

Now they want to force children to eat pork… 

What if the child is vegetarian, will they still force them to eat pork or beef?

And don’t forget, she just might force the pupils to drink WINE during lunch hours… Maybe she could lay off wine for a while, and let people live their lives.

 

Read More: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/french-national-front-to-stop-muslim-and-jewish-pupils-having-porkfree-school-dinners-9240488.html

Flight 370 search: ‘It could take months, it could take years’… WHAT?

It is so hard to believe, with all these countries involved in the current search of Flight 370, that no clues have surfaced.

But most importantly, who gives a damn about the Family Members, who are struggling with the uncertainties.

I admire they strength and mutual support, and  all I can do is offer my unquestionable support and prayers that they find the loved ones, or get closure.

The NSA is able to spy on MILLIONS of computers, but they can’t locate ONE pedophile…

Edward Snowden affair made tech firms ‘wary’ of tackling child pornography, says minister

 

NSA Child safety conference hears moves to combat child sex abuse images have been affected by allegations about state ‘snooping’

Technology companies must introduce new ways of tracking down child pornography on the internet despite fears they will be accused of snooping, the police minister has said.

Damian Green said the case of Edward Snowden – who went public with a series of allegations about Britain and the US’s spying capabilities – had made firms “wary” of co-operating with the government to combat the illegal images.

He urged IT companies to devise new ways of beating online paedophiles who use the internet to coerce children into sex acts.

New methods are also required to combat criminals who use modern technology to store and share images on the internet, the minister added.

“The Snowden affair has made the industry wary of government interference. That is why I emphasise to the industry that they should treat child abuse images as a separate case from anything else,” Mr Green said, after a speech at a conference organised by the NSPCC.

John Carr, chairman of the Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety, told the conference that the fight against child pornography had been “hugely complicated” by the Snowden affair.

There was a “great degree of suspicion” of any scheme designed to root out online paedophiles, and some firms were fearful of appearing to be “just another branch of the CIA or GCHQ”, Mr Carr said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10740301/Edward-Snowden-affair-made-tech-firms-wary-of-tackling-child-pornography-says-minister.html

Black children still face most barriers in America

Compared to other racial groups in the United States, black children face the most barriers towards success – a gap that’s evident from birth and gets wider over time, a new study says.

Released on Tuesday, the Annie E. Case Foundation report highlights the obstacles facing African Americans, as well as other people of color, including Hispanics and American Indians, as they grow up in the United States.

The study calculated a group’s success by evaluating data based on 12 different indicators – reading and math proficiency, income levels, graduation rates, and more – and scoring each one on a scale of one to 1,000. According to the Associated Press, the report found that white and Asian Americans experienced significant advantages over people of color in every region of America.

Specifically, Asian children topped the list with a score of 776, with white Americans not far behind at 704. Scores for American Indians and African Americans were noticeably lower, at 387 and 345, respectively, while Latino children had a composite score of 404.

“We found that the gaps sort of start out relatively small and get bigger over time,” Laura Speer, an associate director at the Casey Foundation, said to the Huffington Post. “Look at the early childhood measures: The gaps between African-Americans, Latinos, whites are relatively small. But in the early childhood years, even a small gap can have a big impact in the long run.”

While the overall composite scores held true across the entire country, some groups did fare better in certain states. As noted by the Post, American Indian children experienced more success in states like California, Michigan, and Texas, but did not fare well in Montana and North Dakota. African Americans, meanwhile, faced consistently tough obstacles across the country, with the exception of Utah and New Hampshire – an alarming stat the report called “a national crisis.”

Noting that Americans’ future will be largely multicultural thanks to rising minority populations, the report underscored the importance of ensuring children of all backgrounds have the chance to prosper.

“The kids of color in our country are absolutely critical to the future success of the United States,” Speer told the Post. “They are going to be the majority of our work force and we can’t afford to lose the talent they have and could have in the future behind. We need them to be successful.”

Casey Foundation President Patrick McCarthy told the AP, meanwhile, that the results are “a call to action,” and the report suggested future studies identify the specific problems and suggest solutions.

“The price of letting any group fall behind, already unacceptably high, will get higher,” the report said. “If America is to remain prosperous for generations to come, all children must have a fair chance to succeed.”