OMNI SYRIA
My blog: The War
Department and Peace Heroes
Newsletters:
Index:
COMPARING SYRIA
AND RWANDA
800,000 Rwandans were
methodically hunted down and murdered as the US Syria Syria
No. 4 at end
Contents #5 Sept. 2, 2013
Sign Petition August 31, 2013
Dick, Non-Violent Options Missing from US Response
Kahf, Analysis of Syrian Revolution
Kahf, Syrian Political Prisoners
Frank Brodhead via HAW
Davies, Why the Civil War Has Worsened
PBS Frontline Program 2011-Present
Gibson, It’s Oil
Hobson, Religious War
Pierce, Making Not Going to War
Contents #6 Sept. 7, 2013
Druding, Call the President
Mohja Kahf, Two Essays
Pain from My Syria
It’s Still a Revolution
Moyers: Bacevich ,
US
Falk, Western Colonialism
Goodman, Phyllis Bennis
Druding, Against Intervention
Comments on #6
What a great set of articles on Syria
I see that Arkansas '
reps in Congress, with the exception of Cotton, are being deluged with
calls/emails from their constituents decrying any plan to attack Syria
sam
Contents #7
Realities
Kahf and Bartkowski, History: From Civil Resistance to Armed
Rebellion
Syrian Refugees and Displaced Persons
Lewis, Don’t Forget US Arsenal of Chemical Weapons
Nonviolent Resistance to Violence, Attack, War Around the World
Syrian Nonviolence Movement
Jessica
Corbett, Resistance Outside Syria
UN: Syria
Craggs: Malala and PM
Gordon Brown to Raise Money for Syrian Children in Lebanon
Dick, Send Linemen not Missiles
RootsAction, Petition to US: Stop Sending Weapons
Diverse Reports Offered by Moyers & CO.
Phil Donohue (Moyers & Co.) Interviews Andrew Bacevich
Ralph Nader Opposes Attack
Kucinich, 10 Unproven Claims for War
Pres. Obama’s Address to Nation Sept. 10, 2013 Rationalizing War
But Accepting Russia’s Negotiation
Chemical Weapons a False Flag?
Dr Maciej Bartkowski and Dr Mohja Kahf:,
links
to the two-part piece on the Syrian resistance published yesterday and today on
openDemocracy:
- Civil resistance and armed rebellion in Syria (part I)
- Aborting the Syrian revolution and four fatal beliefs (part II)
In the article, we assess the role and impact of the Syrian nonviolent resistance when it lasted and show how the armed resistance jeopardized what civil resistance had achieved. We also address myths pertaining to the resort to arms by the Syrian opposition. The decision to engage Assad regime at its strongest - via arms - was based on the misplaced beliefs in the efficacy of armed protection and the inadequate knowledge of the effects of civil resistance.
- Civil resistance and armed rebellion in Syria (part I)
- Aborting the Syrian revolution and four fatal beliefs (part II)
In the article, we assess the role and impact of the Syrian nonviolent resistance when it lasted and show how the armed resistance jeopardized what civil resistance had achieved. We also address myths pertaining to the resort to arms by the Syrian opposition. The decision to engage Assad regime at its strongest - via arms - was based on the misplaced beliefs in the efficacy of armed protection and the inadequate knowledge of the effects of civil resistance.
GOOGLE Search Sept. 21,
2013 Syrian Refugees and Displaced
1.
Syrian refugees top 2 million as thousands flee daily | Al Jazeera ...
Sep 3, 2013 - The exodus is part of a
larger displacement within Syria's borders, with ...Of the $1.1 billion that
the U.N. refugee agency requested in 2013, it has ... Chatty said internally displaced persons are even more difficult
to reach and ...
2.
Six Million Displaced by War in Syria - In Focus - The Atlantic
Sep 9, 2013 - Jordanian chefs and Syrian refugee workers prepare food for
distribution... Most of the displaced people in the tent camp rising
near this village on the ...Syrian civilians flee the northern
Syrian city of Aleppo
3.
Syria Regional Response
Too Many Requests / Flooding Protection
Please wait a few seconds and try again.
4.
UNHCR - Syrian Arab Republic
2013 UNHCR country operations
profile - Syrian Arab Republic ... half of unrest in theSyrian Arab Republic (Syria)
has displaced thousands of people and had ... Faced with growing risks
to their lives, many refugees and asylum-seekers
have ...
5.
PACE: Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons
Assistance to Syrian refugees: after Lebanon , PACE rapporteur continues visit to Turkey
6.
Refugees and
Displaced People - The New
York Times
Commentary and archival information
about refugees and displaced people from The... 24, 2013. Tens of thousands of Syrian Kurds have fled to
northern Iraq
7.
News for Syrian refugees and
displaced persons 2013
National
Geographic - 1 day
ago
At a summer camp for hundreds of Syrian refugee children, the mission.... It will also be decided
by millions of refugees and
displaced people.
8.
Refugees of the Syrian civil war - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Also according to the United Nations, 6
million people inside Syrians needed
help and... By the early months of 2013 the UNHCR announced that
the number of .... The exact number of
newly displaced Syrian refugees was not clear but
was ...
9.
Help Syrian Refugees and
Displaced Persons -
ForceChange
Help Syrian Refugees and
Displaced Persons ... By the end of 2013 more than 10 million
people and four million children within Syria
10.
Syria's internally displaced – 'The world has forgotten us' | Amnesty ...
20 June 2013 ... Syrians sheltering in a camp for
internally displaced people at Atmeh, near the
Turkish border. ... Much has been reported
about the dire situation faced by refugees who fled across the
border to neighbouring countries. But the ...
US Still Hasn't Destroyed Its Own Chemical Arsenal
Paul Lewis, Guardian UK , RSN 9-12-13
Lewis reports: "If the Obama administration wants an example of the difficulties involved in destroying chemical weapons, it might reflect upon its own struggles to get rid of cold-war era chemical arsenals stockpiled in tightly controlled storage facilities in Kentucky and Colorado."
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/306-10/19366-us-still-hasnt-destroyed-its-own-chemical-arsenal
Paul Lewis, Guardian UK , RSN 9-12-13
Lewis reports: "If the Obama administration wants an example of the difficulties involved in destroying chemical weapons, it might reflect upon its own struggles to get rid of cold-war era chemical arsenals stockpiled in tightly controlled storage facilities in Kentucky and Colorado."
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/306-10/19366-us-still-hasnt-destroyed-its-own-chemical-arsenal
RESISTANCE, HOPES,
SYRIAN NONVIOLENCE MOVEMENT
Website: http://www.alharak.org/
SNVM Arabic Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/al7rak.assilmi?fref=ts
SNVM Arabic Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/al7rak.assilmi?fref=ts
Syrian Nonviolence Movement was established in April, 2011, by a group of Syrians who believe in nonviolent struggle and civil resistance as a principle and method in achieving social, cultural, and political change in Syrian society.
PEACE NEWS
Welcome to Peace News, the newspaper for theUK
Welcome to Peace News, the newspaper for the
"Peace News has compiled an exemplary record... its tasks
have never been more critically important than they are today." Noam Chomsky
·
·
·
Main
menu
·
Home
·
Archives
·
About
·
Contact
·
Events
·
Blog
·
Webshop
·
Log In
Nonviolence in Syria
Feature by Jessica
Corbett
PN talks to Syrian
activists inside the outside the country
A demonstration in the
city of Banyas , Syria Syria
Despite the civil war and the threat of US
‘Nonviolent civil resistance started this’, Mohja Kahf of the Syrian Non Violence Movement (SNVM) told PN. Kahf, who was born in Syria but grew up in the United States and is now an associate professor of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arkansas, went on: ‘What people don’t understand is that civil resistance isn’t just the Egyptian model of people filling up the square, but it’s also people building alternate networks, alternate economies… alternate media, alternate schools, the alternate hospital network.’
Solidarity activist Ewa Jasiewicz, who worked in Syria earlier this year, points to the value of the nonviolent movements helping to develop self-government in areas of Syria outside regime control: ‘It’s really important to support grassroots efforts, and self-determination and self-organisation on the ground, because that is the way to empower local Syrians who are already organising without a state, without a government, and creating their own form of democracy, and that’s really inspiring.’
No one will win
Mosab Khalaf, who grew up in countryside aroundDamascus Damascus
‘I tried so hard to tell my friends to be with me, but they tried so hard to make me be with them. They believe in the armed way. They believe that they can win this war,’ he told PN. ‘No one will win this war.’
Khalaf is currently based in Damascus, working with an organisation called ‘Building the Syrian State’ (BSS), co-founded in September 2011 by Rim Turkmani, a Syrian-born astrophysicist at Imperial College in London.
‘Nonviolent civil resistance started this’, Mohja Kahf of the Syrian Non Violence Movement (SNVM) told PN. Kahf, who was born in Syria but grew up in the United States and is now an associate professor of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arkansas, went on: ‘What people don’t understand is that civil resistance isn’t just the Egyptian model of people filling up the square, but it’s also people building alternate networks, alternate economies… alternate media, alternate schools, the alternate hospital network.’
Solidarity activist Ewa Jasiewicz, who worked in Syria earlier this year, points to the value of the nonviolent movements helping to develop self-government in areas of Syria outside regime control: ‘It’s really important to support grassroots efforts, and self-determination and self-organisation on the ground, because that is the way to empower local Syrians who are already organising without a state, without a government, and creating their own form of democracy, and that’s really inspiring.’
No one will win
Mosab Khalaf, who grew up in countryside around
‘I tried so hard to tell my friends to be with me, but they tried so hard to make me be with them. They believe in the armed way. They believe that they can win this war,’ he told PN. ‘No one will win this war.’
Khalaf is currently based in Damascus, working with an organisation called ‘Building the Syrian State’ (BSS), co-founded in September 2011 by Rim Turkmani, a Syrian-born astrophysicist at Imperial College in London.
"The Syrian people don't want
this situation. The Syrian people want a political solution, a nonviolent
solution."
BSS, which has a media centre and organises civilian activities
like leadership workshops, is committed to nonviolent struggle and opposes
foreign intervention. The group has allowed Khalaf to ‘continue my work, to
reach my target from the beginning of the revolution, in a good way, in a more
effective way, in a more political field.’.
‘I love my home, my country, because I know that there’s no place in the whole world where I would be comfortable in and welcome in except this place’, Khalaf said. He sees a place for nations likeRussia ,
Britain and the US Geneva
Unarmed revolution
Through his involvement with the BSS, Khalaf hopes to inform people in other nations: ‘to show the world that there are people fromSyria
Mohja Kahf’s hope is that the entire grassroots peace movement will mobilise in theUS Syria
Amid the armed revolutionary efforts, grassroots activists within and outsideSyria
Activist Omar Al Assil recently worked with fellow members of the SNVM to create an interactive map of all the revolutionary actions taking place acrossSyria
Al Assil told Amnesty International UK that it was created mainly ‘to motivate people, and the other aim is to document all these activities so interested people can have access to it easily.’
Even as grassroots groups continue their nonviolent pursuits, there is conversation among everyone from global political leaders to refugees and revolutionists about other nations getting involved in the conflict.
‘They of course have a role. It’s not a choice for us because they are kind of controlling all this war,’ Khalaf said. ‘Russia ,
for example, controlling the regime; America
But with all the armed battles inSyria ,
many who are in Syria
While activists and Syrians have varied opinions about international intervention, most agree that the key actors in the UN security council can do some good – though not in the form of military strikes.
‘Friends of mine inSyria
‘The moment you start to bring in armed intervention in the form of bombardment, in the form of a war, you immediately create the conditions for much more escalated levels of violence’.
Khalaf echoed those sentiments: ‘The Syrian people don’t want this situation. The Syrian people want a political solution, a nonviolent solution.’
‘I love my home, my country, because I know that there’s no place in the whole world where I would be comfortable in and welcome in except this place’, Khalaf said. He sees a place for nations like
Unarmed revolution
Through his involvement with the BSS, Khalaf hopes to inform people in other nations: ‘to show the world that there are people from
Mohja Kahf’s hope is that the entire grassroots peace movement will mobilise in the
Amid the armed revolutionary efforts, grassroots activists within and outside
Activist Omar Al Assil recently worked with fellow members of the SNVM to create an interactive map of all the revolutionary actions taking place across
Al Assil told Amnesty International UK that it was created mainly ‘to motivate people, and the other aim is to document all these activities so interested people can have access to it easily.’
Even as grassroots groups continue their nonviolent pursuits, there is conversation among everyone from global political leaders to refugees and revolutionists about other nations getting involved in the conflict.
‘They of course have a role. It’s not a choice for us because they are kind of controlling all this war,’ Khalaf said. ‘
But with all the armed battles in
While activists and Syrians have varied opinions about international intervention, most agree that the key actors in the UN security council can do some good – though not in the form of military strikes.
‘Friends of mine in
‘The moment you start to bring in armed intervention in the form of bombardment, in the form of a war, you immediately create the conditions for much more escalated levels of violence’.
Khalaf echoed those sentiments: ‘The Syrian people don’t want this situation. The Syrian people want a political solution, a nonviolent solution.’
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Syrian Non-Violence Movement
The SNVM was formed by young Syrians in November 2011.
On their website, they say: ‘We believe that non-violence is a complete reform process and our work is not to achieve interim goals but rather is a continuous movement to change the society. It won’t reach its ends by toppling a regime or a president but by reaching a critical mass in the Syrian society that acknowledges the need for change and its means, and contributes in moving the society towards a new reality of consciousness, freedom and pluralism.
‘We stick to the non-violence principles in our thoughts and execution and we believe in the necessity to shoulder the civic and historic responsibility of the reality of injustice in the society, and in pushing towards making the human being an active, and not reactive, engine of change.
‘We do not have any political aspirations and we do not pretend to represent the Syrian people.
‘We are not part [of] and we do not support any activity based on foreign intervention.’
More info:
www.alharak.org
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews494
The Syrian Non-Violence Movement
The SNVM was formed by young Syrians in November 2011.
On their website, they say: ‘We believe that non-violence is a complete reform process and our work is not to achieve interim goals but rather is a continuous movement to change the society. It won’t reach its ends by toppling a regime or a president but by reaching a critical mass in the Syrian society that acknowledges the need for change and its means, and contributes in moving the society towards a new reality of consciousness, freedom and pluralism.
‘We stick to the non-violence principles in our thoughts and execution and we believe in the necessity to shoulder the civic and historic responsibility of the reality of injustice in the society, and in pushing towards making the human being an active, and not reactive, engine of change.
‘We do not have any political aspirations and we do not pretend to represent the Syrian people.
‘We are not part [of] and we do not support any activity based on foreign intervention.’
More info:
www.alharak.org
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews494
The Syria Nonviolence Map: www.tinyurl.com/peacenews496
Sign the petition to free nonviolent political prisoners being held by the Syrian government here:www.tinyurl.com/peacenews499
Ewa Jasiewicz is helping to raise £2,100 for an alternative communications system (a satellite mast that can provide internet and local Skype-telephone-access) in the north-eastern Syrian town of Ma’arrat al-Numan, being organised by local civil society group Basmet Amal that she visited this summer:
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews495
Sign the petition to free nonviolent political prisoners being held by the Syrian government here:www.tinyurl.com/peacenews499
Ewa Jasiewicz is helping to raise £2,100 for an alternative communications system (a satellite mast that can provide internet and local Skype-telephone-access) in the north-eastern Syrian town of Ma’arrat al-Numan, being organised by local civil society group Basmet Amal that she visited this summer:
www.tinyurl.com/peacenews495
Jessica Corbett is a US student journalist working in London
|
United Nations
|
UN affirms Syria
has signed chemical-weapons ban treaty
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirms thatSyria Syria ,
is meeting jointly with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign
Minister Sergei Lavrov today in Geneva
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirms that
|
About UN Wire
|
UN Wire is a free
service sponsored by the United Nations Foundation which is dedicated to supporting the
United Nations' efforts to address the most pressing humanitarian,
socioeconomic and environmental challenges facing the world today.
Malala
Raising $500 Million For Syrian Refugees
The Huffington Post | By Ryan Craggs Posted: 09/12/2013 5:12 pm
EDT | Updated: 09/12/2013
8:32 pm EDT
FOLLOW:
Malala Yousafzai, Global
Motherhood, Malala, Malala a World
School, Malala
Fundraising, Malala Gordon
Brown, Malala Syria, Malala Syria
Refugees, Malala Syrian
Children, Malala Syrian
Refugees,World News
After
being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, 16-year-old Malala Yousufzai is taking up
another ambitious challenge: Educating the massive influx of Syrian refugees
living in Lebanon
Teaming with former British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown and rights organization "A World at School," the
activist will work to raise $500 million over the next three years to provide education to the 300,000
Syrian school-age children living in Lebanon Lebanon estimates nearly 550,000 school-aged
Syrian children will be in the country by the end of the year, outnumbering Lebanon
To raise
awareness for the program, Malala spoke via Skype with two refugees, Zahra and Om
Kolthoum Katou, who have been living in Lebanon
for the last year since being forced from their home in Aleppo
"I totally support you. You are
very brave," Malala told the girls. "I believe that you will get your
education, that you will go to school – and that no one can stop you."
According
to a recent UNICEF report, nearly two million Syrian children have dropped out
of school in the last year, amounting to almost 40 percent of all
students between the first and ninth grades. Since the beginning of
the Syrian conflict in March 2011, more than 700,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon, constituting nearly 20
percent of the country's population, NBC notes.
Altogether,
nearly two million people have
fled Syria
“For a country that was close to
achieving universal primary education before the conflict started, the numbers
are staggering” said Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle
East and North Africa .
In August, Malala won the International Children's Peace Prize for her dedication to promoting education. The young Pakistani activist rose to worldwide prominence after surviving an assassination attempt by the Taliban in 2012. She now lives and attends school in
EARLIER
ON HUFFPOST:
Malala Takes The UN By Storm
1 of 9
AP
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Next
ROOTSACTION: STOP THE WEAPONS FLOW INTO SYRIA
 |
||||
|
SEND LINEMEN, CARPENTERS, NURSES, DOCTORS,
MEDICINES TO SYRIA
On September 10, 2013, the ARKANSAS
editorialized
for empathy—for the people of rural Guatemala Arkansas electric
linemen who are dedicating their time to help the people of Huehuetenango , Guatemala Guatemala ,
Dominican Republic , El Salvador , Nicaragua ,
Chile
But here,
at last, needs of the people arrest their attention. These heroes come to help
the villagers. They are not the US
Let us praise the newspaper for this rare
glimpse of nonviolent, international compassion, and hold it to the values of
protection, rescue, caring, the values of the Good Samaritan, which it has just
shown it can understand. In contrast, it
has supported invasion and intervention after invasion and intervention—over
forty since the end of WWII, and none of them constitutional, just, or
necessary
Soon I hope to
report on the ADG’s reporting on Syria Syria Libya
“The Arkansas
Blum,
William. Killing Hope, Rogue State ,
America
MOYERS
& CO.
·
Book Excerpt: ‘Breach of
Trust’ by Andrew Bacevich
FULL EPISODE
§
Andrew
Bacevich on Taking Action in Syria
RELATED FEATURES
Andrew
Bacevich on Taking Action in Syria
September 6, 2013
The military historian and Vietnam veteran talks with guest host Phil
Donahue about the questions that need answers before the U.S. intervenes in Syria
READ
THE TRANSCRIPT
http://billmoyers.com/segment/andrew-bacevich-on-taking-action-in-syria/
DIG DEEPER
Andrew Bacevich on Taking Action in Syria
September 6, 2013
With the probability of American
intervention, Syria Vietnam veteran Andrew
Bacevich about America ’s role in the world and the possible
repercussions of our actions in the Middle East .
Given what we know about what’s going on in Syria ,
is a U.S.
“If you think back to 1980,” Bacevich tells
Donahue, “and just sort of tick off the number of military enterprises that we
have been engaged in that part of the world, large and small, you know, Beirut,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia — and on and on, and ask yourself, ‘What have
we got done? What have we achieved? Is the region becoming more
stable? Is it becoming more Democratic? Are we enhancing America
A graduate of West Point and Vietnam veteran, Andrew Bacevich served for 23
years in the military before becoming a professor at Boston University
Interview Producer: Gina Kim. Editor:
Sikay Tang. Associate Producers: Julia Conley
and Danielle Varga.
Ralph Nader | Stopping
Barry O'Bomber's Rush to War
Ralph Nader, Reader Supported News , Sept. 8, 2013
Nader writes: "Now, as if having learned nothing from the devastating and costly aftermaths of the military invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, you're beating the combustible drums to attack Syria."
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/19295-stopping-barry-obombers-rush-to-war [from David D]
Ralph Nader, Reader Supported News , Sept. 8, 2013
Nader writes: "Now, as if having learned nothing from the devastating and costly aftermaths of the military invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, you're beating the combustible drums to attack Syria."
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/19295-stopping-barry-obombers-rush-to-war [from David D]
Ralph Nader. (photo: unknown)
Stopping Barry O'Bomber's Rush to War
08 September 13
ear President Obama:
Little did your school boy chums in Hawaii
Little did your fellow Harvard Law Review
editors, who elected you to lead that venerable journal, ever imagine that you
could be a president who chronically violates the Constitution, federal
statutes, international treaties and the separation of power at depths equal to
or beyond the George W. Bush regime.
Nor would many of the voters who elected
you in 2008 have conceived that your foreign policy would rely so much on brute
military force at the expense of systemically waging peace. Certainly, voters
who knew your background as a child of third world countries, a community
organizer, a scholar of constitutional law and a critic of the Bush/Cheney
years, never would have expected you to favor the giant warfare state so
pleasing to the military industrial complex.
Now, as if having learned nothing from the
devastating and costly aftermaths of the military invasions of Iraq , Afghanistan
and Libya , you're beating
the combustible drums to attack Syria
-- a country that is no threat to the U.S.
This time, however, you may have pushed
for too many acts of war. Public opinion and sizable numbers of members of both
parties in Congress are opposed. These lawmakers oppose bombing Syria
Thus far, your chief achievement on the
Syrian front has been support for your position from al-Qaeda affiliates
fighting in Syria Syria
Your argument for shelling Syria is to
maintain "international credibility" in drawing that "red
line" regardless, it seems, of the loss of innocent Syrian civilian life,
causalities to our foreign service and armed forces in that wider region, and
retaliation against the fearful Christian population in Syria (one in seven
Syrians are Christian). But the more fundamental credibilities are to our
Constitution, to the neglected necessities of the American people, and to the
red line of observing international law and the UN Charter (which prohibit
unilateral bombing in this situation).
There is another burgeoning cost -- that
of the militarization of the State Department whose original charter invests it
with the responsibility of diplomacy. Instead, Mr. Obama you have shaped the
State Department into a belligerent "force projector" first under Generalissima
Clinton and now under Generalissimo Kerry. The sidelined foreign service
officers, who have knowledge and conflict avoidance experience, are left with
reinforced fortress-like embassies as befits our Empire reputation abroad.
Secretary John Kerry descended to
gibberish when, under questioning this week by a House Committee member, he
asserted that your proposed attack was "not war" because there would
be "no boots on the ground." In Kerry's view, bombing a country with
missiles and air force bombers is not an act of war.
It is instructive to note how government
autocracy feeds on itself. Start with unjustified government secrecy garnished
by the words "national security." That leads to secret laws, secret
evidence, secret courts, secret prisons, secret prisoners, secret relationships
with selected members of Congress, denial of standing for any citizen to file
suit, secret drone strikes, secret incursions into other nations and all this
directed by a president who alone decides when to be secret prosecutor, judge,
jury and executioner. What a Republic, what a democracy, what a passive people
we have become!
Voices of reason and experience have urged
the proper path away from the metastasizing war that is plaguing Syria Syria
Mr. Obama, you may benefit from reading
the writings of Coleman McCarthy, a leading advocate of peace studies in our
schools and universities. He gives numerous examples of how waging peace
avoided war and civil strife over the past 100 years.
Crowding out attention to America
Please, before you recklessly flout
Congress, absorb the wisdom of the World Peace Foundation's Alex de Waal and
Bridget Conley-Zilkic. Writing in the New York Times, they strongly condemn the
use of nerve gas in Syria
"But it is folly to think that airstrikes can be limited:
they are ill-conceived as punishment, fail to protect civilians and, most
important, hinder peacemaking.... Punishment, protection and peace must be
joined... An American assault on Syria
If and when the people and Congress turn
you down this month, there will be one silver lining. Only a Right/Left
coalition can stop this warring. Such convergence is strengthening monthly in
the House of Representatives to stop future war crimes and the injurious
blowback against America
History teaches that Empires always devour
themselves.
Sincerely, Ralph Nader
Reader
Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to
republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported
News.
Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich takes a look at
Top 10 Unproven Claims for War Against Syria
05 September 13
n the lead-up to the Iraq War, I researched,
wrote and circulated a document to
members of Congress which explored unanswered questions and refuted President
Bush's claim for a cause for war. The document detailed how there was no proof
Iraq was connected to 9/11 or tied to al Qaeda's role in 9/11, that Iraq
neither had WMDs nor was it a threat to the U.S., lacking intention and
capability to attack. Unfortunately, not enough members of Congress performed
due diligence before they approved the war.
Here are some key questions which
President Obama has yet to answer in the call for congressional approval for
war against Syria
The questions the Obama administration
needs to answer before Congress can even consider voting on Syria
The UN inspectors are still completing
their independent evaluation.
Who provided the physiological samples of
sarin gas on which your evaluation is based? Were any other non-weaponized
chemical agents discovered or sampled?
Who from the United States
Where was the laboratory analysis
conducted?
Were U.S.
Can you verify that your sample matches
the exact composition of the alleged Syrian government composition?
Which opposition?
Are you speaking of a specific group, or
all groups working in Syria
Has your administration independently and
categorically dismissed the reports of rebel use of chemical weapons which have
come from such disparate sources as Russia
Have you investigated the rumors that the
Saudis may have supplied the rebels with chemicals that could be weaponized?
Has
the administration considered the ramifications of inadvertently supporting al Qaeda-affiliatedSyrian rebels?
Was any intelligence received in the last
year by the U.S. government
indicating that sarin gas was brought into Syria
Further reading: Global Research report; Wall Street Journal article; Reuters story; Zamanstory (in Turkish -- see Google translate from
Turkish to English); Atlantic Sentinel story; AP story
Claim #3: The administration claims chemical weapons were used because the
regime's conventional weapons were insufficient
Who is responsible for the conjecture that
the reason chemical weapons were used against the Damascus
suburbs is that Assad's conventional weapons were insufficient to secure
"large portions of Damascus
Claim #4: The administration claims to have intelligence relating to the
mixing of chemical weapons by regime elements
Who saw the chemical weapons being mixed
from August 18th on?
Was any warning afforded to the Syria
If, on August 21st a "regime
element" was preparing for a chemical weapons attack, has an assessment
been made which could definitively determine whether such preparation (using
gas masks) was for purpose of defense, and not offense?
What is the type of and source of
intelligence which alleges that Assad's brother personally ordered the attack?
Who made the determination that Assad's
brother ordered the attack, based on which intelligence, from what source?
Claim #6: The administration claims poison gas was released in a
rocket attack
Who was tracking the rocket and the
artillery attack which preceded the poison gas release?
Did these events occur simultaneously or
consecutively?
Could these events, the rocket launches
and the release of poison gas, have been conflated?
Based upon the evidence, is it possible
that a rocket attack by the Syrian government was aimed at rebels stationed
among civilians and a chemical weapons attack was launched by rebels against
the civilian population an hour and a half later?
Is it possible that chemical weapons were
released by the rebels -- unintentionally?
Explain the 90-minute time interval
between the rocket launch and chemical weapon attacks.
Has forensic evidence been gathered at the
scene of the attack which would confirm the use of rockets to deliver the gas?
If there was a rocket launch would you
supply evidence of wounds from the rockets impact and explosion?
What is the source of the government's
analysis?
If the rockets were being tracked via
"geospatial intelligence," what were the geospatial coordinates of
the launching sites and termination locations?
Secretary Kerry claimed 1,429 deaths,
including 426 children. From whom did that number first originate?
Claim #8: The administration has made repeated references to videos and photos of the attack as a basis for military
action against Syria
When and where were the videos taken of
the aftermath of the poison gas attack?
Claim #9: The administration claims a key intercept proves the Assad regime's
complicity in the chemical weapons attack
Will
you release the original transcripts in the language in which it was recorded
as well as the translations relied upon to determine the nature of the
conversation allegedly intercepted?
What is the source of this transcript?
What was the exact time of the intercept? Was it a U.S.
Have you determined the transcripts'
authenticity? Have you considered that the transcripts could have been doctored
or fake?
Was the "senior official," whose
communications were intercepted, a member of Assad's government?
How was he "familiar" with the
offensive? Through a surprised acknowledgement that such an attack had taken
place? Or through actual coordination of said attack? Release the transcripts!
Was he an intelligence asset of the U.S.
Who made the assessment that his
intercepted communications were a confirmation of the use of chemical weapons
by the regime on August 21st?
What is the source of information that the
Syrian chemical weapons personnel were "directed to cease
operations"?
Is this the same source who witnessed
regime officials mixing the chemicals?
Does the transcript indicate whether the
operations they were "directed to cease" were related to ceasing
conventional or chemical attacks?
Will you release the transcripts and
identify sources of this claim?
Do you have transcripts, eyewitness
accounts or electronic intercepts of communications between Syrian commanders
or other regime officials which link the CW attack directly to President Assad?
Who are the intelligence officials who
made the assessment -- are they U.S.
Claim #10: The administration claims that sustained shelling
occurred after the chemical weapons attack in order to cover up the traces of
the attack
Please release all intelligence and
military assessments as to the reason for the sustained shelling, which is
reported to have occurred after the chemical weapons attack.
Who made the determination that was this
intended to cover up a chemical weapon attack? Or was it to counterattack those
who released chemicals?
How does shelling make the residue of
sarin gas disappear?
The
American people have a right to a full release and vetting of all facts before
their elected representatives are asked to make a decision of great consequence
for America , Syria Iraq
PRESIDENT OBAMA
Good evening --
Good evening --
I just addressed the nation about the use of
chemical weapons in Syria
Over the past two years, what began as a
series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad
has turned into a brutal civil war in Syria
In that time, we have worked with friends and
allies to provide humanitarian support for the Syrian people, to help the
moderate opposition within Syria
The situation profoundly changed in the early
hours of August 21, when more than 1,000 Syrians -- including hundreds of
children -- were killed by chemical weapons launched by the Assad government.
What happened to those people -- to those
children -- is not only a violation of international law -- it's also a danger
to our security. Here's why:
If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see
no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these deadly
weapons erodes, other tyrants and authoritarian regimes will have no reason to
think twice about acquiring poison gases and using them. Over time, our troops
could face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. It could be
easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and use them to
attack civilians. If fighting spills beyond Syria
So after careful deliberation, I determined
that it is in the national security interests of the United States
Though I possess the authority to order these
strikes, in the absence of a direct threat to our security I believe that
Congress should consider my decision to act. Our democracy is stronger when the
President acts with the support of Congress -- and when Americans stand
together as one people.
Over the last few days, as this debate
unfolds, we've already begun to see signs that the credible threat of U.S.
It's too early to tell whether this offer will
succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its
commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of
chemical weapons without the use of force.
That's why I've asked the leaders of Congress
to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this
diplomatic path. I'm sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian
counterpart on
Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin.
At the same time, we'll work with two of our closest allies -- France and the United Kingdom
Meanwhile, I've ordered our military to
maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad, and to be in a
position to respond if diplomacy fails. And tonight, I give thanks again to our
military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.
As we continue this debate -- in Washington
Please share this message with others to make
sure they know where I stand, and how they can stay up to date on this
situation. Anyone can find the latest information about the situation in Syria
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
[This predictable speech exhibits another president committed to
armed force rather than diplomacy and negotiation, but this time wriggling to
escape worldwide disapprobation. What
seems unpredictable and even astonishing is that the similar warrior President
Putin was the agency of Obama’s sudden switch to diplomacy. The decades of “Cold War” mirror-image US/SU
subversion of United Nations authority continues,
but at least this time the result will be the decrease rather than increase of
WMD. See Chomsky following. –Dick]
12 September 13 AM
Noam Chomsky: Russian Plan Godsend for Obama
Democracy Now! RSN 9-12-13
Excerpt: "'The Russian plan is a godsend for Obama,' Chomsky says. 'It saves him from what would look like a very serious defeat. He has not been able to obtain virtually any international support, and it looked as though Congress wasn't going to support it either ...'"
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/19367-noam-chomsky-russian-plan-godsend-for-obama
Democracy Now! RSN 9-12-13
Excerpt: "'The Russian plan is a godsend for Obama,' Chomsky says. 'It saves him from what would look like a very serious defeat. He has not been able to obtain virtually any international support, and it looked as though Congress wasn't going to support it either ...'"
READ MORE http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/266-32/19367-noam-chomsky-russian-plan-godsend-for-obama
http://www.globalresearch.ca/how-the-syrian-chemical-weapons-videos-were-staged/5350471 from Bo Long Sept. 22, 2013
How
the Syrian Chemical Weapons Videos Were Staged
In the wake of the Syrian chemical
weapons attack, shocking footage of the victims of that attack were widely
circulated in an effort to raise the ire of the public and spur support for
military intervention.
Now, a new report on that footage finds
troubling inconsistencies and manipulation with the video that calls the
official narrative of the attack and its victims into question.
This is the GRTV Backgrounder on Global
Research TV.
Earlier this week, UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-Moon submitted the findings of the UN chemical weapons inspection team
dispatched to Syria
The report has been used as justification for the
US and UK
“On the basis of the evidence obtained
during our investigation of the Ghouta incident, the conclusion is that, on
21st August 2013, chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict
between the parties in the Syrian
Arab Republic
The determination of where the attacks
originated from is of course the key issue geopolitically speaking. If the
attack originated with the Syrian government it would mark a serious escalation
in the conflict, but if the weapons were launched by the terrorist insurgency
it would mean the attack was a false flag provocation, designed to draw the US
As analysts have been at pains to point
out, the motive for such an attack has always suggested that it was more likely
that the terrorists were the culprits in Ghouta, not the Syrian government.
They have been losing the ground war against Syrian government forces for
months, and they knew that the use of chemical weapons was the “red line” that
Obama had set as the threshold for military intervention. Those who argue
Assad’s culpability have to believe that not only did he suddenly and
inexplicably resort to using chemical weapons on his own people for no
strategic military reason, but that he waited until UN chemical weapons
inspectors arrived in the country before doing so.
The background and history of the
conflict also provide ample evidence that the terrorists have chemical weapons
in their possession, and are trained and motivated to use them. Last December
it was reported that US forces were training the terrorist forces in the the handling of chemical
weapons. Also last December the insurgents released a video showing
their chemical weapons operations and threatening to use them against
government supporters. And in July of this year, Russia
submitted an exhaustive 100-page report to the UN outlining how the terrorist
insurgency was in fact to blame for the March 19th chemical
weapons attack in Khan al-Asal on the outskirts of Aleppo
But in the light of this latest
chemical weapons attack, the UK, the US and France have all released their own
intelligence studies blaming Assad for the incident and calling on the
“international community” to increase pressure on the Syrian government. The
reports, however, contradict each other in numerous places, with wildly
different estimates of casualties in the events suggesting that the
intelligence agencies that produced the report cannot even agree on the most
basic details of the attack.
Now, new evidence is emerging that the
attacks were used and manipulated by the terrorists in order to provoke the US and its allies into armed intervention in Syria
The first indications of this plot
emerged early on, when expert analysis of the videos suggested inconsistencies in the
footage itself.
That analysis was later expanded on by
a report from ISTEAMS, a
Syria-based human rights group working in conjunction with the International
Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights. In this thorough report, published
on GlobalResearch.ca on September 16th, numerous discrepancies and
inconsistencies in the footage are documented.
The report documents through eyewitness
testimony and video evidence that the affected areas had been largely abandoned
by local residents in the days prior to the attack. Yet in the footage of the
aftermath, there are large numbers of child victims who are portrayed. There
exists very little footage of parents with their children, and what little
footage exists portrays some of the parents apparently “discovering” their
children on multiple occasions in different locations. Other footage shows the
same children arranged in different formations in geographically distant
neighborhoods. The report concludes that the footage was carefully stage
managed to create the greatest emotional impact on foreign audiences. These
videos were then used by the Obama administration to convince the Senate of
their case for military intervention.
ISTEAMS President and one of the key
researchers on the report, Mother Agnes Mariam,
joined The Corbett Report to discuss the problems with the official narrative
of the chemical weapon attack emanating from Washington and its allies last
month.
The ISTEAMS report raises many
troubling questions about the scenes in the Ghouta videos. Were the victims of
the attack local children? If so, why were they there after these areas had
been largely abandoned? Where are their parents? In the days after the attack,
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, an advisor to the Assad government, provided an equally troubling answer to these questions to Sky News.
These reports dovetail with videos posted by the Mujahedeen Press Office
to YouTube just six days before the attack confirming that the terrorists had
kidnapped hundreds of women and children from the rural villages of Alawite
stronghold Lattakia to use as bargaining chips in the conflict. Were these
kidnap victims moved to Ghouta to be killed in the chemical weapons attack? Is
this why so many children were there in these largely-vacated areas, and why so
few parents appear on video mourning their children?
Although further research and
investigation is urgently needed by third-party organizations to establish the
identity of the Ghouta attack victims and the whereabouts of the kidnapped
Lattakian families, the reports, if true, are evidence of the most disgraceful
war crimes imaginable and the most cold-blooded manipulations of evidence to
suit an agenda. Earlier this month, Global Research Director Michel Chossudovsky appeared on GRTV to discuss the nature
of the terrorist insurgency.
Now, the US
In order to prevent this war agenda from proceeding any further
or these propaganda images from being used in the pursuit of military
intervention, it is vital that this latest ISTEAMS report is downloaded from Global Research,
widely disseminated, and thoroughly investigated
YouTube - Videos from this
email
Contents #4 March 5, 2013
Shower for Shirene Duman-Elkerim Saturday
Kahf: Women Demonstrate for
Nonviolence
Reports on Syria
Dec. 2012
Jan. 1, 2013
Feb. 1, 2013
Feb. 18, 2013
Feb. 26, 2013
[Sorry, I thought
these would be active links. They are
available in the web site. http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/ —Dick]
END SYRIA
No comments:
Post a Comment