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Soon all of Syria, like Azaz, will be at peace, as long as we don’t run out of bombs. (Wikimedia photo)
My children learned early on that when they made a pronouncement — such as, “Marijuana is actually good for you,” or “teenagers shouldn’t be forced to get up early” — they would get a standard comeback from me: “How do you know that?” Read it in the paper, or saw it on TV? What publication, what channel, by what author or reporter? What were the qualifications of the person making the claim, and what evidence was offered, and what did you think of the quality of the evidence, and the argument? (This parental rigor has had two results: none of my children has spoken to me since the mid-1990s; and they are all skilled critical thinkers.)
So now the pronouncement, not from young children but from the much less mature Trump Administration, is that Syria’s President Assad has used Sarin nerve gas on his own people, again, in his brutal prosecution of the years-long civil war there. He killed 70 people, we are told, many of them children,in the Syrian village of Khan Sheikhun. The United States must punish him, say the Trumpists, because the last time he did this, in 2013, President Obama let him get away with it. I have a few questions:
- How do we know it was Sarin? So far the only evidence I’ve seen was an on-site doctor’s assertion that the victims’ pupils were contracted, a symptom of exposure to (any) nerve gas. WebMD lists 36 conditions that can cause constricted pupils, including dehydration and anxiety. On the other hand, video clearly showed people without gloves or any other protection handling the victims. If those victims had on them the slightest trace of Sarin, according to the literature, those rescue workers would be dead. (On the other hand: remember the Korean relative of Kim Jong-Un assassinated recently in Malaysia by two women who smeared VX, a nerve agent similar to Sarin, on his face? They didn’t use gloves. How come they’re not dead?)
- If it was Sarin, who deployed it? There is no question that Assad’s planes attacked the village, but Russia says the nerve gas was in a rebel ammunition dump nearby. Why would Assad do this now? Was this the turning point of some crucial battle in his struggle for survival? Well, no, nothing much was going on. The explanation going the rounds is that he was testing US policy. See, the Secretary of State, whatsisname, said the other day that Assad’s future would be up to the Syrian people. This seemed like a terrific break for Assad, after years of US determination to oust him from power. So, naturally, Assad wanted to commit a horrible, heinous, crime against humanity to find out if the US really meant it. Make sense?
- He did it because he’s done it before? The 2013 incident is no better understood after four years than this one after four days. We know it was Sarin, in 2013, but there is no conclusive evidence that the weapons that delivered it were Assad’s. Then as now it makes more sense to keep in mind that the rebels benefit greatly from the world’s abhorrence of Assad’s deployment of chemical weapons. An attack like this by Assad is the ultimate in stupidity; executed by the rebels and blamed on Assad, it would be the ultimate in cunning. President Obama, unsure of the realities of the 2013 attack, asked Congress; do you want to go to war over this (declaring war, you may recall, is Congress’s job). The Congress lost its voice, did nothing, and after a few beats accused Obama of cowardice for not ignoring them and going to war anyway.
- Why is official America so outraged? “No child of God deserves to die like this,” says Trump of the latest victims, explaining why he unleashed a retaliatory air raid. What is the qualitative difference, please, between the children who died at Khan Sheikhun and the 300 civilians, many of them children, who died in fire and falling concrete in the American bombing of Mosul, Iraq, this week. Did those children deserve to die like that?
On the other, other hand, the first Western reporters on the ground are seeing evidence that the nerve agent was deployed from the air, and suggest that the ammunition dump was in fact a disused barn.
I said I had questions, not that I had answers. But I’d feel better if Donald Trump asked some questions, instead of demonstrating over and over that for every problem there’s a solution that is simple, obvious and wrong.
Come on nobody questioned the Donald on the Apprentice! gosh he’s the smartest guy on the planet right? Oh yea and the only human capable of fixing everything,(everything)so maybe we just need to give him more compliments and adoration and he will put all our problems to rest ,you would think that you did not know that his son inlaw was already brokering perfect peace in all the middle east asI write this
. So I am going to have a beer and relax in the peace of the just.
It was pointed out in the comment stream on r/collapse that the Ruskies had missile batteries in the path of the missiles shot by El Trumpo and could have shot them down.Vlad the Impaler also supposedly was informed of the strike in advance. So since he is allies with Ass-ad, why didn’t he do that?
I’m starting to think this is a public relations gimmick. His Trumpness needs to look “strong” and retaliate for the purported chemical weapons attack. But he doesn’t want a war with Mother Russia, so they get informed and move all their valuable hardware out fo the airbase. Then the missiles fly and destroy basically nothing. The Donald can now claim he retaliated, and the Missile Suppliers get a new contract for 59 replacement missiles. Win-Win for everybody.
Besides this Oil prices jump up by 2%, good for Vlad and good for the local Frackers. More Win-Win.
Have we seen any reconaissance photos of destroyed jets and missile batteries at this airfield? Nope. Not even pics of some wrecked cheap prefab metal buildings used for Hangars and Barracks.
So WWIII may still be a ways off here.
One hopes. Interesting speculations, Reverse. May I call you Reverse?
Generally people call me RE, pronounced “Ari”.
RE
“I’m starting to think this is a public relations gimmick.”
You and my wife both want to go on the record with that. And I don’t disagree.
No matter what, the CIA most likely has a hand in it and I don’t like the never-ending war machine to keep up the economy one-trick pony the U.S. keeps riding.
Once there was a time when the U.S. would be the first to HELP other countries with natural disasters and as an ally. Now we’re the bullies of the world (who couldn’t beat Viet Nam, ruined Iraq and who’s military is not only overstretched, but a large part of our equipment doesn’t work, as per a recent Tom Lewis article) and nobody likes us.
War with Russia would be the biggest and worst mistake we could make. They don’t fuck around, and could wipe out our entire country in a day.
We keep making enemies with our so-called foreign policy (steered and engineered by the CIA – the Cabal of Intelligent Assholes) and before long we’ll be on the receiving end of the backlash that will eventually result.
I agree wholeheartedly with your conclusion, Mr. Lewis.
QUOTE: ***(steered and engineered by the CIA – the Cabal of Intelligent Assholes)***
ROFL.
It may be even worse than described. Iraq’s chem weapons reportedly could have gone to Syria. Its reported also that Hillary had Libya’s chem weapons shipped to Syrian rebels. Managed by way of Bengazi. And Kerry and Rice and Obama repeatedly and now obviously lied about it. The whole kettle of fish stinks to high heaven. None of which a citizen can validate or verify. But often a “conspiracy theory” will get pretty close to the real ground truth.
Tom – Can’t really believe anything the con-man saith. The other problem is that his raid of rockets was an act of war and only congress can declare war (Article I, section 8). This was illegal and the trumpet can be impeached as this certainly qualifies as a “high crime or misdemeanor”. Not that this will ever happen. Russ Day
[“Why is official America so outraged? “No child of God deserves to die like this,” says Trump of the latest victims, explaining why he unleashed a retaliatory air raid. What is the qualitative difference, please, between the children who died at Khan Sheikhun and the 300 civilians, many of them children, who died in fire and falling concrete in the American bombing of Mosul, Iraq, this week. Did those children deserve to die like that?”]
What would bring someone to kill so indiscriminately ?
A war I guess.
…or have people forgotten what it means?
It just amazes me to what lengths those in positions of power — whether in America or China or wherever — are prepared to go to deceive their subjects and well nigh anyone under their thumb, and how long they have been doing this. The only thing more amazing than the above is the extent to which their subjects have been willing to be deceived.
Can’t remember now if I said it before here, but looking at the whole farce I sometimes really wish I had the powers of the Blue Fairy, so that if anyone tried brewing up falsehoods in front of me his/her nose would instantly grow longer by several inches. I’m sure the noses of certain people in positions of power around the world would grow so long as a result that the Great Wall of China would look like a flea’s penis by comparison.
“Its reported also that Hillary had Libya’s chem weapons shipped to Syria…” Really? How? Why? Oh, right, she’s a heartless evil witch who will stop at nothing to hurt people. “It’s reported…” by the same Russian disinformation trolls who flooded our social media with lies about her before the election?
I was wondering if the revelation that Russia had mounted a very effective disinformation campaign against Clinton would cause any of the “Killary” crowd to stop and reconsider their beliefs, but I guess not.
Remember that Russia wanted Trump to win and gleefully celebrated when he did. There’s a “Why” question that really does need to be answered. Well, they got what they paid their trolls and bot developers for. Now we have to hold on for the ride.
There’s a “Why” question that really does need to be answered.
Aye, there’s “the rub.” Is that not always the case? Whether in politics, business, or even one’s “daily” life, are there not myriad “Whys?” that NEED to be “answered?” Yet, far too few even dare(?!) ask “Why?” and an even more insignificant fraction are ever “able/willing” to answer. It should then be no “mystery” WHY homo sapiens sapiens {sic] are so utterly and truly “fucked.” In simplified terms, T.M.S.P.!!! End of story. Enjoy what you can, while you can, as that capacity will soon be nonexistent… for anyone, anywhere.
“Obama’s change of mind had its origins at Porton Down, the defence laboratory in Wiltshire. British intelligence had obtained a sample of the sarin used in the 21 August attack and analysis demonstrated that the gas used didn’t match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal”. Obama’s change of mind had its origins at Porton Down, the defence laboratory in Wiltshire. British intelligence had obtained a sample of the sarin used in the 21 August attack and analysis demonstrated that the gas used didn’t match the batches known to exist in the Syrian army’s chemical weapons arsenal”.https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line