The author speaks of "the absence of nuance." I would extend this to "the current conversation" about whether a chemical attack took place or not. Black or white - either the attack happened or it didn't.
Yet the West broke international law and attacked Syria without waiting for the OPCW's call. So Assad isn't the only bad guy here. Nato, in the form of the US and Turkey are currently occupying perhaps half of Syria. Turkey has been looting Syria of oil and antiiquities. The GCC has definitely funded terrorists to attack a sovereign nation.
In light of the GCC and West's attacks and occupation, for the author to talk of "the international community’s ongoing inaction" is just plain wrong. The reverse is very much in evidence.
Perhaps the conversation should finally turn to what reparations the people of Syria should be entitled to for the injustices heaped upon them by that selfsame international community.
Why Turkey, indeed Nato, has any diplomatic credibility regarding Syria is beyond me.
Turkey, a "key Nato member", has demonstrably supported terrorists attacking Syria, systematically looted the nation's oil and antiquities and is now occupying the North in contravention of international law.
All this on top of reportedly burning alive hundreds of Kurds sheltering in basements a few years back in what was nothing short of a Nazi style pogram.
And Nato has the gall to accuse Russia of stoking the Ukranian civil war while France, the UK and US (interesting acronym) use air stikes to deliberately prolong the outrageously evil war in Syria.
"... the pledge ... to fight terrorism and overcome sectarianism" could not be more hollow even if it was stated by the White House.
Correction: Ron, for interest’s sake the US announced that 76 of those missiles were launched at the “Barzah Research and Development Center.” Yet the OPCW conducted a round of inspections in Barzeh as late as November 2017 and found no “activities inconsistent with obligations under the Convention.” link to opcw.org
Something like $760m wasted to blow away 3 buildings totally unconnected with chemical weapons.
Ron, for interest's sake the US announced that 7 of those6 missiles were launched at the “Barzah Research and Development Center.” Yet the OPCW conducted a round of inspections in Barzeh as late as November 2017 and found no "activities inconsistent with obligations under the Convention." link to opcw.org
Something like $76m wasted to blow away 3 buildings totally unconnected with chemical weapons.
It is a difficult transformation when it is finally beaten into your thick head that your side, supposedly the good guys, are actually war criminals on a scale that dwarfs the Syrian regime.
It's against international law, not to mention basic morality, to:
- arm terrorists to attack another nation and prolong their civil war;
- inavde and occupy another nation that presents zero threat to yours;
- bomb another nation on an as yet unproven pretext.
The OPCW started work in Syria today to confirm whether chemical weapons were in fact used. It shouldn't be difficult to determine especially when video has emerged of 2 of the hospital doctors shown in the White Helmets video denying that a chemical attack took place. Would it have been too much to wait 24 hours for the OPCW to announce preliminary finding?
Supposedly 40,000 civilians were killed in the western-backed liberation of Mosul, many of those by US bombs. Does it really matter whether a child is gassed to death or burned to death in an explosion or dies from having their entrails blown from their body by a 500lb bomb?
One child dying in this manner is one too many.
This bloody war needs to end _now_ yet all the West's attack has done is prolong it even further.
The US, and Turkey, are occupying parts of Syria in contravention of international law. Today a British soldier was killed around Manjib and France intends to send troops there as well.
It distresses me because I thought Nato were supposed to be the good guys. But there are at least four members breaking international law in Syria and that, to me, is unacceptable.
Cole: "The Russian Federation vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to criticize Iran for sending arms to the Houthis, since the UNSC has an arms embargo on Yemen."
I believe that Iran was criticized for _not blocking_ arms going to the Houthis as opposed to supplying the arms in the first instance.
I'd add that the rebels in East Ghouta have randomly shelled Damascus at least 3 times in the last 6 weeks. That adds a lot of impetus towards finally crushing them.
As an aside it also says something of the Saudis who knowingly supply the shells that are being used for outright terrorism.
del, Iran has Jewish parliamentarians so it is not anti-jew or anti-Israel, it is anti-zionist.
I note that you decry Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria but not the Saudi/Turkish/US enablers of the terrorists who invaded in the first instance. Then the US and Turkey are currently occupying parts of Syria contrary to the most basic tenets of international law yet you blame Russia and Iran.
At a guess I'd say that you're a victim of western propaganda.
Either Russia "has to restrain Iran and Hizbullah, effectively ceding control over that part of Syria to the fundamentalist rebels and the Israeli army, or it has to take over Syrian air defense and prevent Israeli air strikes in Syria."
It looks like the rebels and Israelis just took a chunk of Syria because it's becoming increasingly evident that the much vaunted Russian anti-aircraft missiles are utterly worthless.
Certainly the Russian diplomatic note has more chance of stopping the Israelis than an S-300 ever will.
Other accounts state that the Israeli jets faced a barrage of anti-aircraft fire yet only one plane was downed. Despite perhaps 100 previous strikes on Syria this is the first time Israel has lost an aircraft. My take is that the Russian missiles are utter rubbish: they have zero deterrent value and not much better wartime performance.
Also:
- the drone supposedly was shot down over Israel so where are the pics of the wreckage?
- just because it was allegedly an Iranian made drone doesn't mean that Iranian forces were using it.
In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, former US diplomat James Jeffrey cited "the chaos we deliberately created” to confront past challengers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Jeffrey is a former Deputy National Security Advisor (2007–2008) and US Ambassador to Iraq (2010–2012) so if anyone should know the truth it is him.
The US deliberately created chaos in Iraq and now Trump refuses to help fix the resultant human misery.
A clever placard was spotted at the recent women's march in Washington: "Does this ass make my country look small?" Given the lack of reconstruction aid for Iraq I'd say the answer is a resounding "yes".
As Australian Prof Michael McKinley recently wrote, the US is in "... a state of permanent, failed war in Clausewitzian terms: the enemy has not been compelled to fulfill the will of the United States and its allies."
It's the "permanent" part of that statement that disgusts me. How many people must die, how much human misery is to be inflicted before the US gives the planet a break?
"... citing “the chaos we deliberately created” to confront past challengers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran."
There you go. A highly experienced US diplomat admitting that the US deliberately created chaos in Central Asia and the Middle East.
There is a crying need for a comprehensive war crimes tribunal as this is the only way the millions of victims of the US was machine will ever get justice.
Mark, according to Airwars the US killed 6,000 civilians in Syria in 2017 alone and a good proportion of those would have been children. Now consider the US-supported war on Yemen and think of the _millions_ of kids starving to death right now. Or think back to the Iraq sanctions imposed by the US that killed half a million kids while Saddam was in power.
What makes you think that the US government cares how many non-US kids die whether by shrapnel, gas, starvation or cholera?
The demise of US influence is utterly guaranteed because while the US makes war China does business. Paraphrasing, what the US spends billions destroying the Chinese will eagerly rebuild for profit.
The US business model is thereby inferior and the petroyuan will speed the decline. Given Yemen, the Paris climate accords, etc, its moral authority is in negative territory which can only add momentum to the slide.
"Widespread destruction from the U.S-backed Saudi airstrikes has displaced over a million people in the region. A severe cholera outbreak in the area has also claimed lives of at least 2,119 people, according to the Red Cross. Another eight million are on the verge of starvation."
All this visited upon the people of Yemen just because the US has a problem with Iran.
Prof. Cole, I call random shelling of civilian areas in Syria terrorism. The nations that provided the shells are supporters of terrorism. If this includes the US and France then so be it.
Ron Bruce, have you ever heard of an S-400 downing anything? Remember that Syria is now defended by these missiles but Israel still manages airstrikes with virtual impunity and not even the Russians can fly east of the Euphrates.
That is, S-400's are utterly useless as a deterrent and that's their main function.
These are people just like us who want nothing more than to live their lives free from the interference of people just like us. Instead they're threatened with death and utter destruction because, like it or not, they live in times when dangerous bigots hold sway.
I'd like to know how Russian "... hacking is an existential question for the American political system." The US is an oligarchy and the people already know that it is fundamentally dishonest.
The Israeli's have been meddling in the US political system for decades so Russophobia pure and simple is powering articles like the above.
Then you have the likes of an Antiwar.com article from today: "State Dept Spends $1 Million Funding Venezuela Opposition." The hypocrisy is unbelievable.
Cole: "The Syrian regime only became interested in taking on Daesh once it seemed clear that otherwise the YPG would do the job ..."
Rubbish. The Syrian government could not take on Daesh while leaving foreign-armed rebels in the government's rear. It's the first rule of military strategy.
Cole: "The Western Pushtuns have never bought into the US-established government in Kabul ..." But according to Trump (mirroring Assad) there are no freedom fighters in Afghanistan because they're all "terrorists."
Cole: "... the Pakistani military has fought some hard campaigns against extremists inside the country, and lost many troops to these battles." So the combined US, Nato and sundry allies can't defeat the Pashtun in Afghanistan but Pakistan is supposed to defeat them over the border by themselves.
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The author speaks of "the absence of nuance." I would extend this to "the current conversation" about whether a chemical attack took place or not. Black or white - either the attack happened or it didn't.
Yet the West broke international law and attacked Syria without waiting for the OPCW's call. So Assad isn't the only bad guy here. Nato, in the form of the US and Turkey are currently occupying perhaps half of Syria. Turkey has been looting Syria of oil and antiiquities. The GCC has definitely funded terrorists to attack a sovereign nation.
In light of the GCC and West's attacks and occupation, for the author to talk of "the international community’s ongoing inaction" is just plain wrong. The reverse is very much in evidence.
Perhaps the conversation should finally turn to what reparations the people of Syria should be entitled to for the injustices heaped upon them by that selfsame international community.
Why Turkey, indeed Nato, has any diplomatic credibility regarding Syria is beyond me.
Turkey, a "key Nato member", has demonstrably supported terrorists attacking Syria, systematically looted the nation's oil and antiquities and is now occupying the North in contravention of international law.
All this on top of reportedly burning alive hundreds of Kurds sheltering in basements a few years back in what was nothing short of a Nazi style pogram.
And Nato has the gall to accuse Russia of stoking the Ukranian civil war while France, the UK and US (interesting acronym) use air stikes to deliberately prolong the outrageously evil war in Syria.
"... the pledge ... to fight terrorism and overcome sectarianism" could not be more hollow even if it was stated by the White House.
Correction: Ron, for interest’s sake the US announced that 76 of those missiles were launched at the “Barzah Research and Development Center.” Yet the OPCW conducted a round of inspections in Barzeh as late as November 2017 and found no “activities inconsistent with obligations under the Convention.” link to opcw.org
Something like $760m wasted to blow away 3 buildings totally unconnected with chemical weapons.
Your tax dollars at work.
Ron, for interest's sake the US announced that 7 of those6 missiles were launched at the “Barzah Research and Development Center.” Yet the OPCW conducted a round of inspections in Barzeh as late as November 2017 and found no "activities inconsistent with obligations under the Convention." link to opcw.org
Something like $76m wasted to blow away 3 buildings totally unconnected with chemical weapons.
See this at The Intercept: "Donald Trump Ordered Syria Strike Based on a Secret Legal Justification Even Congress Can’t See" link to theintercept.com
It is a difficult transformation when it is finally beaten into your thick head that your side, supposedly the good guys, are actually war criminals on a scale that dwarfs the Syrian regime.
It's against international law, not to mention basic morality, to:
- arm terrorists to attack another nation and prolong their civil war;
- inavde and occupy another nation that presents zero threat to yours;
- bomb another nation on an as yet unproven pretext.
The OPCW started work in Syria today to confirm whether chemical weapons were in fact used. It shouldn't be difficult to determine especially when video has emerged of 2 of the hospital doctors shown in the White Helmets video denying that a chemical attack took place. Would it have been too much to wait 24 hours for the OPCW to announce preliminary finding?
Supposedly 40,000 civilians were killed in the western-backed liberation of Mosul, many of those by US bombs. Does it really matter whether a child is gassed to death or burned to death in an explosion or dies from having their entrails blown from their body by a 500lb bomb?
One child dying in this manner is one too many.
This bloody war needs to end _now_ yet all the West's attack has done is prolong it even further.
My own side disgusts me.
One word missing from your analysis is "law."
The US, and Turkey, are occupying parts of Syria in contravention of international law. Today a British soldier was killed around Manjib and France intends to send troops there as well.
It distresses me because I thought Nato were supposed to be the good guys. But there are at least four members breaking international law in Syria and that, to me, is unacceptable.
Cole: "The Russian Federation vetoed a UN Security Council resolution to criticize Iran for sending arms to the Houthis, since the UNSC has an arms embargo on Yemen."
I believe that Iran was criticized for _not blocking_ arms going to the Houthis as opposed to supplying the arms in the first instance.
Interesting analysis.
I'd add that the rebels in East Ghouta have randomly shelled Damascus at least 3 times in the last 6 weeks. That adds a lot of impetus towards finally crushing them.
As an aside it also says something of the Saudis who knowingly supply the shells that are being used for outright terrorism.
del, Iran has Jewish parliamentarians so it is not anti-jew or anti-Israel, it is anti-zionist.
I note that you decry Russian and Iranian involvement in Syria but not the Saudi/Turkish/US enablers of the terrorists who invaded in the first instance. Then the US and Turkey are currently occupying parts of Syria contrary to the most basic tenets of international law yet you blame Russia and Iran.
At a guess I'd say that you're a victim of western propaganda.
Either Russia "has to restrain Iran and Hizbullah, effectively ceding control over that part of Syria to the fundamentalist rebels and the Israeli army, or it has to take over Syrian air defense and prevent Israeli air strikes in Syria."
It looks like the rebels and Israelis just took a chunk of Syria because it's becoming increasingly evident that the much vaunted Russian anti-aircraft missiles are utterly worthless.
Certainly the Russian diplomatic note has more chance of stopping the Israelis than an S-300 ever will.
Other accounts state that the Israeli jets faced a barrage of anti-aircraft fire yet only one plane was downed. Despite perhaps 100 previous strikes on Syria this is the first time Israel has lost an aircraft. My take is that the Russian missiles are utter rubbish: they have zero deterrent value and not much better wartime performance.
Also:
- the drone supposedly was shot down over Israel so where are the pics of the wreckage?
- just because it was allegedly an Iranian made drone doesn't mean that Iranian forces were using it.
In recent testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, former US diplomat James Jeffrey cited "the chaos we deliberately created” to confront past challengers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. Jeffrey is a former Deputy National Security Advisor (2007–2008) and US Ambassador to Iraq (2010–2012) so if anyone should know the truth it is him.
The US deliberately created chaos in Iraq and now Trump refuses to help fix the resultant human misery.
A clever placard was spotted at the recent women's march in Washington: "Does this ass make my country look small?" Given the lack of reconstruction aid for Iraq I'd say the answer is a resounding "yes".
As Australian Prof Michael McKinley recently wrote, the US is in "... a state of permanent, failed war in Clausewitzian terms: the enemy has not been compelled to fulfill the will of the United States and its allies."
It's the "permanent" part of that statement that disgusts me. How many people must die, how much human misery is to be inflicted before the US gives the planet a break?
Enough already.
"... citing “the chaos we deliberately created” to confront past challengers in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran."
There you go. A highly experienced US diplomat admitting that the US deliberately created chaos in Central Asia and the Middle East.
There is a crying need for a comprehensive war crimes tribunal as this is the only way the millions of victims of the US was machine will ever get justice.
Mark, according to Airwars the US killed 6,000 civilians in Syria in 2017 alone and a good proportion of those would have been children. Now consider the US-supported war on Yemen and think of the _millions_ of kids starving to death right now. Or think back to the Iraq sanctions imposed by the US that killed half a million kids while Saddam was in power.
What makes you think that the US government cares how many non-US kids die whether by shrapnel, gas, starvation or cholera?
Seems like Assad only has to sit back and watch as his frenemies remove the last obstacles to a united Syria.
The demise of US influence is utterly guaranteed because while the US makes war China does business. Paraphrasing, what the US spends billions destroying the Chinese will eagerly rebuild for profit.
The US business model is thereby inferior and the petroyuan will speed the decline. Given Yemen, the Paris climate accords, etc, its moral authority is in negative territory which can only add momentum to the slide.
"Widespread destruction from the U.S-backed Saudi airstrikes has displaced over a million people in the region. A severe cholera outbreak in the area has also claimed lives of at least 2,119 people, according to the Red Cross. Another eight million are on the verge of starvation."
All this visited upon the people of Yemen just because the US has a problem with Iran.
Disgust doesn't cut it.
Prof. Cole, I call random shelling of civilian areas in Syria terrorism. The nations that provided the shells are supporters of terrorism. If this includes the US and France then so be it.
Ron Bruce, have you ever heard of an S-400 downing anything? Remember that Syria is now defended by these missiles but Israel still manages airstrikes with virtual impunity and not even the Russians can fly east of the Euphrates.
That is, S-400's are utterly useless as a deterrent and that's their main function.
It's not war on Iran - it's war on Iranians.
These are people just like us who want nothing more than to live their lives free from the interference of people just like us. Instead they're threatened with death and utter destruction because, like it or not, they live in times when dangerous bigots hold sway.
I'd like to know how Russian "... hacking is an existential question for the American political system." The US is an oligarchy and the people already know that it is fundamentally dishonest.
The Israeli's have been meddling in the US political system for decades so Russophobia pure and simple is powering articles like the above.
Then you have the likes of an Antiwar.com article from today: "State Dept Spends $1 Million Funding Venezuela Opposition." The hypocrisy is unbelievable.
Beware Trump bearing gifts. He'll demand something big from the Israelis in return for recognising Jerusalem as the capital.
Cole: "The Syrian regime only became interested in taking on Daesh once it seemed clear that otherwise the YPG would do the job ..."
Rubbish. The Syrian government could not take on Daesh while leaving foreign-armed rebels in the government's rear. It's the first rule of military strategy.
Islamic State???
I thought it was down to Islamic Couple of Acres.
So MbS claimed another scalp, not a prince or businessman this time but no less than the Prime Minister of another country.
Cole: "The Western Pushtuns have never bought into the US-established government in Kabul ..." But according to Trump (mirroring Assad) there are no freedom fighters in Afghanistan because they're all "terrorists."
Cole: "... the Pakistani military has fought some hard campaigns against extremists inside the country, and lost many troops to these battles." So the combined US, Nato and sundry allies can't defeat the Pashtun in Afghanistan but Pakistan is supposed to defeat them over the border by themselves.