In the US Empire is Assad Hitler or Churchill?

[georgephillip]

It was almost exactly one year ago when US public opinion stopped Obama in his tracks from bombing Syria; what a difference a year makes:

"It was not even a year ago when we were bombarded with messaging that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a Supreme Evil and Grave Threat, and that military action against his regime was both a moral and strategic imperative.

"The standard cast of 'liberal interventionists' – Tony Blair, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Nicholas Kristof and Samantha Power - issued stirring sermons on the duties of war against Assad. Secretary of State John Kerry actually compared Assad to (guess who?) Hitler, instructing the nation that 'this is our Munich moment.'

"Striking Assad, he argued, 'is a matter of national security. It’s a matter of the credibility of the United States of America. It’s a matter of upholding the interests of our allies and friends in the region.'

"U.S. military action against the Assad regime was thwarted only by overwhelming American public opinion which opposed it and by a resounding rejection by the UK Parliament of Prime Minister David Cameron’s desire to assume the usual subservient British role in support of American wars.

"Now the Obama administration and American political class is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the failed 'Bomb Assad!' campaign by starting a new campaign to bomb those fighting against Assad – the very same side the U.S. has been arming over the last two years."

When your economy is dependent upon eternal war for its survival, the one thing you can not run out of is enemies (old and new).

The Fun of Empire Fighting on All Sides of a War in Syria - The Intercept

 

[Alated]

He's just anti central bank and US dollar. That's all it takes to get on the "to be bombed and taken down" list.

 

[georgephillip]

He's just anti central bank and US dollar. That's all it takes to get on the "to be bombed and taken down" list.

That's how it played out in Iraq and Libya, and maybe part of what's driving the "bomb Iran" movement.

 

[Alated]

He's just anti central bank and US dollar. That's all it takes to get on the "to be bombed and taken down" list.

That's how it played out in Iraq and Libya, and maybe part of what's driving the "bomb Iran" movement.

it's too weird for me, that there are so few that wish to discuss so many things that are truly important to the American people and their future. It's like they don't have a clue or it's too complex to think about.

 

[georgephillip]

He's just anti central bank and US dollar. That's all it takes to get on the "to be bombed and taken down" list.

That's how it played out in Iraq and Libya, and maybe part of what's driving the "bomb Iran" movement.

it's too weird for me, that there are so few that wish to discuss so many things that are truly important to the American people and their future. It's like they don't have a clue or it's too complex to think about.

Many in the US rely on corporate media that don't bother presenting any context, historical or otherwise, when reporting on world events.

Joshua Landis does a pretty good job covering Syria, but I don't know how often he appears on MSNBC or CNN.

Syria Comment - Syrian politics history and religion

 

[Peach]

Assad was not raised to lead Syria; educated in the West, he is an accidental dictator. His older brother was groomed to take over, died; now blue eyes, designer suits, is run by the military.

 

[georgephillip]

What makes Assad's reign in Syria or IS any worse than the Saudi Royals?

"And then, of course, there is the dictatorship in Saudi Arabia. Much of the world was rightly repulsed when Isis beheaded the courageous journalist James Foley.

"Note, then, that Saudi Arabia has beheaded 22 people since 4 August.

"Among the 'crimes' that are punished with beheading are sorcery and drug trafficking.

"Around 2,000 people have been killed since 1985, their decapitated corpses often left in public squares as a warning.

"According to Amnesty International, the death penalty 'is so far removed from any kind of legal parameters that it is almost hard to believe', with the use of torture to extract confessions commonplace.

"Shia Muslims are discriminated against and women are deprived of basic rights, having to seek permission from a man before they can even travel or take up paid work."

To really combat terror end support for Saudi Arabia Owen Jones Comment is free The Guardian