NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

NEW WARS / OLD WARS – What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

 

ANTI-SYRIAN PROPAGANDA WAR, Chapter XXXI. . .

 

Six Killed Pediatricians Sign Letter To Obama We are used to quite a lot of warmongering propaganda against Syria. The "last hospital in Aleppo gets destroyed" - week after week after week, reports by Physicians For Human Rights on Syria turn out to be scams, videos and pictures of "children rescued" by the U.S./UK payed media group "White Helmets" are staged.    But the yesterday released and very well propagandized Open Letter of Aleppo Doctors takes the crown of warmongering anti-Syrian fakes… Stenographing the letter's propaganda the Guardian cleverly notes:  It has not been possible to verify the names of all the doctors listed in the letter.  May be because these names are those of famous Jihadis? … Wasn't the last pediatricians in east-Aleppo killed on April 28?   More	“Freedom Fighters” in Aleppo today
Afghan “Freedom Fighters” 1983 with Reagan	Media Distorted Syrian Ceasefire’s Breakdown Coverage of the breakdown of the partial ceasefire in Syria illustrated the main way corporate news media distort public understanding of a major foreign policy story. The problem is not that the key events in the story are entirely unreported, but that they were downplayed and quickly forgotten in the media’s embrace of themes with which they were more comfortable.  In this case, the one key event was the major offensive launched in early April by Al Nusra Front—the Al Qaeda franchise in Syria—alongside US-backed armed opposition groups. This offensive was mentioned in at least two “quality” US newspapers. Their readers, however, would not have read that it was that offensive that broke the back of the partial ceasefire. On the contrary, they would have gotten the clear impression from following the major newspapers’ coverage that  systematic violations by the Assad government doomed the ceasefire from the beginning.   More

 

The sham rebrand of al-Qaeda's Nusra Front

The Nusra Front’s adoption of the new name Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and claim that it has separated itself from al-Qaeda was designed to influence US policy, not to make the group any more independent of al-Qaeda.  The objective of the manoeuvre was to head off US-Russian military cooperation against the jihadist group, renamed last week, based at least in part on the hope that the US bureaucratic and political elite, who are lining up against a new US-Russian agreement, may block or reverse the Obama administration’s intention to target the al-Qaeda franchise in Syria…   Qatari intelligence reportedly met several times with Golani and offered substantial direct funding in return for a formal move to renounce his loyalty to al-Qaeda…  The real reason for the rebranding and creation of a supposedly independent organisation was the threat of a US-Russian joint air campaign against Nusra Front. Golani himself provided a very strong hint that it was the primary consideration, declaring that it was intended to take away the excuse used by the US and Russia to "bombard and displace Muslims... under the pretence of targeting Jabhat al-Nusra”.   More

 

Outside help behind rebel advances in Aleppo

Syria’s opposition has hailed rebel advances in the strategic city of Aleppo as a stunning success for ragtag forces, while the international community looked on as 300,000 Syrians suffered a weeks-long siege.  But the offensive against President Bashar al-Assad’s troops may have had more foreign help than it appears: activists and rebels say opposition forces were replenished with new weapons, cash and other supplies before and during the fighting.  “At the border yesterday we counted tens of trucks bringing in weapons,” said one Syrian activist, who crosses between Syria and neighbouring Turkey. “It’s been happening daily, for weeks … weapons, artillery — we’re not just talking about some bullets or guns.”   More

 

HOW ISRAEL PLAYS SYRIA’S CIVIL WAR

As the IDF’s Military Intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Herzi Halevi said earlier this summer, in Syria “there are not good guys or bad guys anymore, where the white knight hits the black knight.” Nevertheless, he added, for Israel the worst outcome would be a situation where the pro-regime axis emerges victorious at the end of the civil war.   In this he was joined by Amos Yadlin, a predecessor as Military Intelligence chief and one of the country’s most respected strategic thinkers. In two major articles, Yadlin argued that Israel should ditch its policy of non-intervention in favor of a more active policy that leads to the defeat of the country’s “most bitter enemies”: Iran and its Syrian and Lebanese allies. To achieve this end he called for direct military support to anti-Assad rebels, increased humanitarian assistance, and a parallel front against the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade. “When Assad is ultimately ousted,” Yadlin wrote, “it is important that the Arab and Muslim world know that Israel was on the right side of the struggle and operated correctly from both a moral and a strategic perspective.”   More

 

Saudis Resume Bombing Yemen and U.S. Sells More Weapons

The Pentagon announced an additional $1.15 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia this week, even as a three-month cease-fire collapsed and the Saudi-led coalition resumed its brutal bombing campaign of the Yemen capital Sana’a.

The U.S. has already sold more than $20 billion of weapons to Saudi Arabia since the war began in March 2015, defying calls from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to cut off support. The Saudi-led coalition is responsible for the majority of the 7,000 deaths in the conflict, which has left more than 21 million people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. Saudi Arabia has been accused of intentionally targeting homes, factories, schools, markets, and hospitals.   More

 

U.S. Air Force refueling missions over Yemen grow by 60 percent

U.S. Air Force KC-135s and KC-10s are and have been prepositioned within the Central Command theater ready to “support partner nations and theater refueling requirements,” said Air Forces Central Command spokeswoman Kiley Dougherty.  As of Aug. 8, “we've flown 1,144 aerial refueling sorties totaling approximately 9,793 flying hours and providing 40,535,200 pounds of fuel to 5,525 receiving aircraft,” Dougherty told Air Force Times in an email Monday. The latest statistics show sorties in support of the Saudi-led coalition against Yemeni rebels have increased roughly 61 percent since AFCENT last provided data in February.   More

 

The world's best cyber army doesn't belong to Russia

National attention is focused on Russian eavesdroppers’ possible targeting of U.S. presidential candidates and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Yet, leaked top-secret National Security Agency documents show that the Obama administration has long been involved in major bugging operations against the election campaigns -- and the presidents -- of even its closest allies.  The United States is, by far, the world’s most aggressive nation when it comes to cyberspying and cyberwarfare. The National Security Agency has been eavesdropping on foreign cities, politicians, elections and entire countries since it first turned on its receivers in 1952. Just as other countries, including Russia, attempt to do to the United States.   More

 

Why It's So Hard for Members of the Military to Speak Out

Having spent trillions of dollars on war with such sorry results, it’s a wonder that key figures in the U.S. military or officials in any other part of America’s colossal national security state and the military-industrial complex (“the Complex” for short) haven’t spoken out forcefully and critically about the disasters on their watch.  Yet they have remained remarkably mum when it comes to the obvious.  Such a blanket silence can’t simply be attributed to the war-loving nature of the U.S. military.  Sure, its warriors and warfighters always define themselves as battle-ready, but the troops themselves don’t pick the fights.  Nor is it simply attributable to the Complex’s love of power and profit, though its members are hardly eager to push back against government decisions that feed the bottom line. To understand the silence of the military in particular in the face of a visible crisis of war-making, you shouldn’t assume that, from private to general, its members don’t have complicated, often highly critical feelings about what’s going on. The real question is: Why they don’t ever express them publicly? … To those who’ve been exposed to hierarchical, authority-heavy institutions, that lesson will undoubtedly come as no surprise.   More

 

 

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ISRAEL, PALESTINE . . . and the U.S.

 

DEMS AND ISRAEL/PALESTINE: New Leadership, Old Policies

Clinton has gone out of her way during the campaign to say that she will make strengthening the U.S.-Israel alliance one of her top priorities. In an op-ed in the Jewish Daily Forward in November, she committed to doing “everything I can to enhance our strategic partnership and strengthen America’s security commitment to Israel.” (Given U.S. preparations to sign, as early as next week, a new memorandum of understanding to provide Israel $47 billion in military aid over the next 10 years, it’s worth asking how much stronger it could be). When Sanders challenged Clinton during a debate in March to declare Israel’s use of force in Gaza in 2014 disproportionate, she refused… Key constituencies of the party, including its grassroots base and those mobilized by the Sanders campaign, are ready for the U.S. to take stronger action on ending Israel’s impunity. Under Hillary Clinton’s leadership, however, it will take a lot of agitation to make the Democracy Party catch up with its progressive base.   More

 

TELL CONGRESS: Oppose 'Combating BDS Act of 2016'

As of yesterday, 29 Senators and 90 Representatives had supported this outlandish legislation. Click here to see if your Members of Congress have cosponsored this bill.  This bill would “authorize” state and local governments to unconstitutionally penalize entities such as nonprofit organizations and corporations for supporting the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).  The Supreme Court has long held that boycotts and related activities to bring about political, social, and economic change are political speech, occupying “the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values.” As the Harvard Law Review recently concluded, “Supreme Court precedents make clear that attempts to disqualify contractors for support of BDS are foreclosed by the First Amendment.”  Even though this bill might be unconstitutional, we still need to organize to oppose it. This legislation is designed to further encourage a country-wide effort by the Israel lobby to try to suppress BDS activism at the state and local level.  Check out the RightToBoycott website we recently launched with member groups Palestine Legal and Jewish Voice for Peace. Find out if anti-BDS legislation has been introduced in your state and get the legal and organizing resources you need to mobilize to challenge it.  Contact your Member of Congress today!

There are 89 co-sponsors in the House – so far including NONE from Mass;  28 co-sponsors in the Senate, including Sen. Markey, but not Sen. Warren.

 

Palestinians welcome Movement for Black Lives platform

Pledging to “firmly and consistently stand in solidarity with our Black sisters and brothers in the United States and around the world,” Palestinians welcomed the policy platform recently released by the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of more than 50 Black-led organizations.  In a statement on Tuesday, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) reiterated its support for the growing Black Lives Matter movement.  The BNC thanked the Movement for Black Lives “for the powerful words of solidarity in the Invest-Divest section of the platform specifically endorsing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) measures against Israel’s occupation and apartheid in line with the 2005 Palestinian civil society call until all Palestinian human rights are respected.”  More

 

Black activists slam Israel lobby attack on Movement for Black Lives

The Movement for Black Lives (MBL), a coalition of more than 50 Black-led organizations, provoked the wrath of the Israel lobby earlier this week following the release of its much anticipated policy platform, “A Vision for Black Lives.”  In response, voices from inside and outside the movement are pushing back without fear, signaling the shrinking effectiveness of Israel lobby groups in framing the narrative, particularly among the younger generation of social justice activists…   The backlash from pro-Israel groups and media outlets was swift, with the most scathing coming from the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in Boston, a member of a national network of communal organizations that lobby for Israel, including by supporting anti-BDS laws in state legislatures around the country.   More

 

Former AIPAC Researcher:

CONDITIONS SHOULD COME WITH $40B AID PACKAGE TO ISRAEL

Despite the billions of dollars in foreign assistance that Israel already receives annually from the United States, the Obama administration is reportedly close to providing the Jewish state with up to $40 billion in funding over 10 years, making it the biggest U.S. military aid package ever given to any country.  However, if American taxpayers are going to again foot the bill for financing the Israeli military, which continues to occupy 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, then conditions must be put on the deal to exact concessions from Israel. U.S. aid to the Jewish state should be tied to progress in the peace process and respect for Palestinian human rights…   Under Netanyahu’s watch, Israel clearly has no intention of ending its occupation. Consequently, the United States should be exerting pressure on Israel to persuade the Netanyahu government to abandon its settlement activities, not rewarding the Jewish state with increased military aid.

The Obama administration should make it clear that there are strings attached to U.S. aid and that Israel’s failure to comply with a settlement freeze will have financial penalties.    More

 

 

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OTHER EVENTS