RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS CALLED U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY A LIAR.
THE RESPONSE FROM KERRY?
NOT EVEN A MEEK "TRUTH HURTS!"
TODAY, THESE REPORTERS WERE USHERED INTO KERRY'S OFFICE WHERE THEY DISCOVERED HIM STILL GNAWING ON THE BONES OF SECRETARY OF DEFENSE CHUCK HAGEL (SEE "Kerry had a hankering for Hagel" AND "THIS JUST IN! KERRY DEVOURS HAGEL!" ).
WHEN ASKED FOR A REPLY TO PUTIN'S COMMENTS, KERRY JUST GROWLED AND SHOWED TEETH AS HE ATTEMPTED TO COVER ACCESS TO HAGEL'S BONES BY PRESSING HIS SNOUT OVER THEM.
FROM THE TC WIRE:
Tom Cohen (CNN) reports US President Barack Obama declared today, "A red line for us in we star seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized." What is The Dalibama of War babbling about? His push for war on Syria and, Cohen states, "Conservative critics have said Obama painted himself into a corner with his statement last year that Syria's use of chemical weapons was a red line that would change his approach to its civil war." Cohen's mistaken, it's not just conservative critics who are making this claim and Cohen is wrong in that he refuses to explain really what the claim is. Devin Dwyer (ABC News) reported last week:
Obama’s warning in August 2012 that use of a “whole bunch” of chemical weapons would cross a “red line,” triggering “enormous consequences,” went much further than aides had planned, several told the New York Times earlier this year. Some reportedly wished Obama could have taken those words back.
Now, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who has made ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan his signature foreign policy achievement, is at risk of entangling the U.S. in a fresh Middle East conflict.
AFP's Prashant Rao Tweets:
- Obama Assures Americans This Will Not Be Another 1456 Ottoman Siege Of Belgrade -
@TheOnion: http://onion.com/1dGfS32
Prashant Rao
It was beyond stupid for Barack to make that ultimatum and it was the action of a politically naive savant which really makes you wonder who really runs the White House? But that's how the US government ended up where they are now and, note, Some White House aides "reportedly wished Obama could have taken those words back." That doesn't sound like conservative critics. Betty's certainly not a conservative and, last night, addressing Secretary of State John Kerry went on and on about "reputation" in yesterday's hearing which can be boiled down as Barack shot off his mouth and Kerry feels it is the duty of the Congress to ignore the will of the people to protect The Dahlibahma of War from his own big, fat mouth. This led Betty to state what we should all be wondering, "And for that, you want innocent Syrians to die in your pretend 'precision strike'."
Can this be? Are we really, as a nation, required to go to war to make good the simple-minded statements of an untutored president who had no constitutional authority to issue his impulsive ultimata?
Are we really required to go to war to get the egg off Obama’s face?
On Barack's false claim that he didn't draw the red line, Glen Ford (Black Agenda Report):
That’s news to the rest of the planet, including most of the Group of 20 and the meeting’s host, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who described Obama’s claims that Syria used sarin gas against civilians in rebel-held areas as “completely ridiculous.” “It does not fit any logic,” said Putin, since Syrian President Assad’s forces “have the so-called rebels surrounded and are finishing them off.”
It’s news to China, which will surely join Russia in vetoing any Security Council motion to provide legal cover for Obama’s aggression. And it’s news to the usually compliant UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who this week reaffirmed that “the Security Council has primary responsibility for international peace and security" and “the use of force is lawful only when in exercise of self-defense in accordance with article 51 of the United Nations Charter and or when the Security Council approves such action.”
It’s news to Great Britain, America’s temporarily wayward poodle, whose parliament rejected any militarily entanglement in Obama’s red line. As esteemed political analyst William Blum points out, 64 percent of the people of France oppose their government’s planned participation Obama’s Battle of the Red Line.
Apparently, a young and impressionable Obama took the 1985 USA for Africa song “We are the World” too literally, and believes that all one need do is sing or shout the words to make it so.
Also calling out leaders -- in Congress and out -- is Margaret Kimberley (Black Agenda Report):
The black misleadership scoundrels are also worthy of scorn in this crime. Van Jones was tossed under the wheels of Obama’s bus yet has sung his praises ever since. As a “left” commentator on CNN he said, “If you kill Assad right now, wonderful.” Jones also claimed that the United States overthrew a dictator in Iran in 1953. Of course Mohammed Mossadegh was democratically elected and Jones was left to feebly explain that he meant to use the word leader.
Jones wasn’t alone in trashing black Americans’ historic opposition to military aggression. We didn’t really need further proof that black politics has reached its nadir under Obama, but Eleanor Holmes Norton provided us with more. The non-voting Washington DC delegate to congress had this to say about why Obama will probably win congressional approval for more death and destruction. “If [Obama] gets saved at all, I think it’ll be because, it’ll be because of loyalty of Democrats. They just don’t want to see him shamed and humiliated on the national stage.” Not satisfied at her public expression of stupidity she had this to say. “At the moment, that’s the only reason I would vote for it if I could vote on it.” So shallow and shameful were Norton’s words that one might be tempted to support the district’s powerless status.
The black misleadership scoundrels are also worthy of scorn in this crime. Van Jones was tossed under the wheels of Obama’s bus yet has sung his praises ever since. As a “left” commentator on CNN he said, “If you kill Assad right now, wonderful.” Jones also claimed that the United States overthrew a dictator in Iran in 1953. Of course Mohammed Mossadegh was democratically elected and Jones was left to feebly explain that he meant to use the word leader.
Jones wasn’t alone in trashing black Americans’ historic opposition to military aggression. We didn’t really need further proof that black politics has reached its nadir under Obama, but Eleanor Holmes Norton provided us with more. The non-voting Washington DC delegate to congress had this to say about why Obama will probably win congressional approval for more death and destruction. “If [Obama] gets saved at all, I think it’ll be because, it’ll be because of loyalty of Democrats. They just don’t want to see him shamed and humiliated on the national stage.” Not satisfied at her public expression of stupidity she had this to say. “At the moment, that’s the only reason I would vote for it if I could vote on it.” So shallow and shameful were Norton’s words that one might be tempted to support the district’s powerless status.
Today Barack got a little closer to getting his war on Syria. Paul Richter (Los Angeles Times) reports, "A divided Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted narrowly Wednesday to authorize a punitive U.S. strike against Syria, opening the way for a vote in the full Senate next week." Ruth asked that we note her Senator Chris Murphy was one of the votes against authorizing an attack on Syria. On Labor Day, Ruth noted Murphy's comments about Syria and would have guessed that he would have voted for authorization. She notes that she and a friend in her neighborhood went door to door speaking to those home about the need to contact Murphy and distributing fliers with contact info. Jake Miller (CBS News) explains, "With the exceptions of Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Ed Markey, D-Mass., all of the panel's Democrats voted in favor of the resolution. Udall and Murphy were opposed, while Markey voted 'present.'" Gregory Korte (USA Today) notes, "The vote was 10-7. Five Republicans and two Democrats voted against it. The committee's consensus followed closed-door meetings Wednesday morning, which delayed the start of the committee's meeting by nearly three hours." Along with Murphy and Udall, the other "no" votes were Republican Senators John Barasso, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, James Risch and Marco Rubio. "Yes" votes were Democratic Senators Barbra Boxer, Chris Coons, Dick Durbin, Ben Cardin, Tim Kaine, Robert Menendez and Jean Shaheen. Republicans voting "yes" to attack were Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and John McCain.
If it surprises you that more did not stand up, look at the House minority leader and the idiotic story she told:
"I’ll tell you this story and then I really do have to go. My five-year-old grandson, as I was leaving San Francisco yesterday, he said to me, Mimi, my name, Mimi, war with Syria, are you yes war with Syria, no, war with Syria. And he’s five years old. We’re not talking about war; we’re talking about action. Yes war with Syria, no with war in Syria. I said, ‘Well, what do you think?’ He said, ‘I think no war.’ I said, ‘Well, I generally agree with that but you know, they have killed hundreds of children, they’ve killed hundreds of children there. ‘ And he said, five years old, ‘Were these children in the United States?’ And I said, ‘No, but they’re children wherever they are.’
To the reporters crowding around her, who share the globalist assumptions of the political class, her remarks seemed… well, unremarkable. To ordinary people, however, Pelosi’s smart-as-a-whip grandson posed a very good question, perhaps the only pertinent one in this whole debate: what does the Syrian civil war have to do with us? Which makes one wonder: what was Pelosi thinking as she related a narrative whose real meaning seemed to elude her.
Which brings us rather neatly to the central question underlying the debate over whether to strike Syria: What was the Obama administration thinking when they decided to try to pull this off? Do they live on another planet from the rest of us?
That is really the central issue here. Forget the "weapons of mass destruction:" let’s not even talk about the vague and very shaky "evidence" linking the Assad regime to the use of sarin gas – and it’s probably best to ignore the "moral" arguments users of phosphorus bombs and depleted uranium weaponry invoke when justifying this war. The real question is what kind of mindset are the Nancy Pelosis of this world operating under. It’s not a partisan mindset: the leadership of both parties, as well as the White House have all drunk from the same pitcher of Kool-Aid.
For Congressional advocates for war, international law doesn't matter. Nor, as Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com), does public opinion appear to matter:
But while the president can count on old-guard hawks to vote yes before they even hear what country they’re voting to lob missiles at, the American public is nowhere near so easy to trick, and despite top officials repeatedly advocating the war in public addresses, the polls continue to show broad, bipartisan opposition among Americans for the conflict.
Nationwide, the administration can’t even crack the 30% mark on selling the war to the public, even with television news networks shamelessly reiterating administration lies about unquestionable “proof” of Assad’s guilt and Secretary of State John Kerry loudly and repeatedly comparing Assad to Adolf Hitler.
John Kerry calls Assad "Hitler" today but Anthony Bond and David Martosko (Daily Mail) point out that he didn't feel that way in 2009 when he and his wife, Teresa Heinz, shared "a cozy and intimate dinner with Bashar al-Assad" and the First Lady of Syria Asma al-Akhras. But today, Kerry screams al-Assad is Hitler? Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) observes:
Officials are throwing every rhetorical trick in the book at Congress to see what sticks at this point, from Hitler to Iran, and making any empty promises about keeping the war limited to skeptics while talking up escalation to hawks.
There is palpable desperation in the administration’s attempts to sell the war at all costs, and while officials have regularly tried to trick the country into war throughout history, there have been few that have been so flagrant about it. Fortunately, the polls are still not on their side, and the American public appear unwilling to be fooled this time.
Antiwar.com urges all readers to contact their Congressmen and urge them to vote against attacking Syria. Click here for contract information.
Officials are throwing every rhetorical trick in the book at Congress to see what sticks at this point, from Hitler to Iran, and making any empty promises about keeping the war limited to skeptics while talking up escalation to hawks.
There is palpable desperation in the administration’s attempts to sell the war at all costs, and while officials have regularly tried to trick the country into war throughout history, there have been few that have been so flagrant about it. Fortunately, the polls are still not on their side, and the American public appear unwilling to be fooled this time.
Antiwar.com urges all readers to contact their Congressmen and urge them to vote against attacking Syria. Click here for contract information.
Yesterday, MoveOn sent out the following e-mail:
**OFFICIAL VOTE**
Dear MoveOn member,
We need your help making an important decision.
President Obama has asked Congress to authorize the use of military force in Syria in response to recent reports of a chemical weapons attack by the government there.1
Because MoveOn is its members, the stance MoveOn takes on this issue will be decided by MoveOn members.
Should MoveOn support or oppose the congressional authorization to use military force in Syria?
Click here to cast your vote:
Voting starts now and will go through 10:00 a.m. ET tomorrow. The more people who participate, the better the decision will be—so please take a moment to vote now by clicking here:
Thanks for all you do.
–Anna, Mark, Susannah, Linda, and the rest of the team
Today Rebecca Shabad (The Hill) reports, "The liberal group MoveOn said Wednesday it opposes military action in Syria and will work to defeat it in Congress. The group, which spearheaded liberal opposition to the Iraq War, said it surveyed its 8 million members and found overwhelming opposition to President Obama’s call for Syria strikes."
I'm honestly surprised by that move -- not by the results of the vote but that MoveOn listened to their membership. Maybe if John Kerry would stop repeatedly hissing "Hitler," he could hear the voice of the people as well? Or maybe the question to ask is WWHB: Who Would Hitler Back?
Today on Morning Edition (NPR -- link is audio and transcript), US-backing efforts in Syria were discussed:
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And I'm Renee Montagne.
President Obama has promised limited military action against Syria. He says missile strikes are not about regime change and there will be no boots on the ground. But even as the Congress debates the president's plans for action, the White House is looking at broader options.
NPR's Tom Bowman reports the president may call on the U.S. military to help build up the Syrian opposition.
TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE: Right now it's not the Pentagon but the CIA that's working with the Syrian rebels, mostly providing training in Jordan. But the president also promised weapons for the rebels back in June and they haven't arrived. So yesterday at a Senate hearing, Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee put this question to Secretary of State John Kerry.
(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)
SENATOR BOB CORKER: Why have we been so slow, so inept in so many ways at helping build capacity of this opposition that we have said publicly that we support?
SECRETARY JOHN KERRY: I think, Senator, we need to have that discussion tomorrow in classified session. We can talk about some components of that.
BOWMAN: Classified session, meaning behind closed doors; that's because the CIA is handling the effort. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told Senator Corker the U.S. military is on the sidelines.
Again, WWHB? As Robert Fisk (ZNet) pointed out last week:
If Barack Obama decides to attack the Syrian regime, he has ensured – for the very first time in history – that the United States will be on the same side as al-Qa’ida.
Quite an alliance! Was it not the Three Musketeers who shouted “All for one and one for all” each time they sought combat? This really should be the new battle cry if – or when – the statesmen of the Western world go to war against Bashar al-Assad.
The men who destroyed so many thousands on 9/11 will then be fighting alongside the very nation whose innocents they so cruelly murdered almost exactly 12 years ago. Quite an achievement for Obama, Cameron, Hollande and the rest of the miniature warlords.
It's full circle for the CIA, back in business with al Qaeda after training and funding them to fight against the USSR military in Afghanistan.
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