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03 November 2012 By Stephen
Lendman Electoral priorities feature
rhetoric, not new adventurism advocacy likely to rile
voters. Post-election, anything goes. The Middle East pot boils.
Endless conflicts persists. Car bombings, other
violence, and instability are daily Iraqi realities.
Afghanistan is America's longest war. It was lost long
ago. Nonetheless, it shows no signs of ending. Libya is a raging cauldron.
US-led NATO ravaged the country. Fighting continues.
Washington's puppet regime has no legitimacy or
control. Jamahiriya resistance wants it ousted. Libyan freedom fighters have good
reason. Western stooges represent NATO, not
liberation. Their nation lies in ruins. Voice of
Russia cited a new book by Russian Middle East expert
Anatoli Yegorin. He said NATO's campaign did seven
times more damage than WW II. Billions of dollars in
stolen Libyan wealth hasn't been returned.
Post-Gaddafi Libya is ungovernable. NATO doesn't solve problems. It
creates them. Everywhere it shows up, death,
destruction, and unspeakable human misery follow.
Liberation isn't in its vocabulary. Conquest,
occupation, and exploitation are prioritized. Former Russian Libya ambassador,
Vladimir Charmov, said the worst of his expectations
came true. Bani Walid symbolically represents a
ravaged country in ruins. Libyan puppets admit they have no
control over the city. Defense minister Osama al-Jueili
said: "The chief of staff has no
control over the town and therefore armed men are able
to prevent families from coming back." Bani Walid resembles a ghost
town. It was ravaged and destroyed. Thousands likely
died. Many more were wounded. Residents able to escape
fighting left. Militia fighters prevent them from
returning. Other areas face turmoil. On
October 30, AFP headlined "Libya assembly stormed in
new blow to forming government," saying: Protesters stormed Tripoli's
national assembly. A scheduled cabinet vote was
prevented. Assembly president Mohammed Megaryef
cancelled the session. He had no choice. "Out of
control" chaos raged. Libyans burst in and disrupted
proceedings. Live television showed it. It wasn't the
first time this happened. It won't be the last.
Megaryef and assembly members have no control. "What happened constitutes
psychological pressure on the members of the
congress," said Megaryef. "Let it be known to all
Libyans and to the whole world in what conditions we
are working. The situation is out of control." On October 31, Russia Today (rt.com)
headlined "Protesters storm Libyan parliament,"
saying: Protesters oppose nominated
ministers. They represent Western interests, not
theirs. Puppet officials have no
legitimacy. They can't even control Tripoli. They're
unwanted and impotent elsewhere. Expect protracted
liberating struggle to continue. At the same time, death squad
terror stalks the country. Militias, Jamahiriya
freedom fighters, and government forces battle for
control. Perhaps full-blown NATO intervention again
looms. Anything is possible next year. On October 30, Voice of Russia
headlined, "Middle East in anticipation of war,
reaching its peak after US elections," saying: Israel, not Iran or Syria, is the
region's existential threat. It's been that way for
decades. Conditions now are worse than earlier. "(S)ome political experts claim
there will be a risk that a new 'big wave' in the
Middle East could reach its peak after the American
presidential elections, and that the region might
plummet into the abyss. They say that Israel is ready
to attack Iran's nuclear facilities." Commenting on regional
conditions, Iranian/US relations specialist Irina
Fedorova expressed concerns, saying: "The issue that will influence
the US president's opinion on the possibility of a
military strike against Iran will be the crisis in
Syria, including the problem of Bashar al-Assad. Until
those problems are resolved, the US president's
attention will be focused on Syria." Hawks dominate Israeli and US
politics. War plans are prepared. Military exercises
and bombing a Khartoum weapons facility may have been
"rehersal(s) of sorts." Iran's well aware of the risks.
It prepared long ago. "There can be unpredictable
decisions in politics and it is possible that the
situation could arise when the Israeli military,
without Washington's approval, would start an
operation against Iran. In that case the USA would,
without doubt, support Israel." Post-US elections some observers
expect this to happen. In fact, Israel won't go it
alone. Netanyahu wants Washington taking the lead. He
prefers riding shotgun. At issue, of course, is the
madness of attacking Iran. Odds favor it next year.
Potentially catastrophic consequences may follow. At the same time, Syria remains
embroiled in conflict. Western-backed death squads
violated an Eid al-Adha truce multiple times. On October 30, the Syrian Arab
News Agency (SANA) headlined "Premier al-Halqi
Condemns Terrorist Groups' Violations during Eid al-Adha,"
saying: Syria's Armed Forces "will
continue work on consolidating security and stability"
across the country. At the same time, the government
"will continue providing all kinds of services and
needs to the citizens and work on rehabilitating what
the terrorist groups have damaged." Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov blamed Western nations for hindering dialogue
and conflict resolution, saying: "Now we seek to carry out the
Geneva agreement, and the first step is to halt
violence by all sides which requires international
supervision….We must work to move events in the right
direction and speak in one voice, particularly foreign
players." Russia tried to broker peace for
months. Washington most of all blocks it. Obama bears
full responsibility for what's ongoing. Longstanding
US plans call for regime change. Conflict could continue for
years. The death and destruction toll already is
horrific. Expect worse to come. Washington is directly
involved in recruiting, arming, funding, and directing
militant extremists. Al Qaeda, Salafists, Wahabists,
and others are part of America's strategy to topple
Assad. It hasn't worked so far and won't short of
full-scale NATO intervention. Perhaps it's next. At the same time, civilians
suffer most. They're willfully marked for death. Most
Syrians support Assad. They're most vulnerable. On October 30, Foreign Policy
headlined "Obama administration works to launch new
Syrian opposition council," saying: In early November, Syrian
opposition leaders will meet in Qatar. At issue is "form(ing)
a new leadership body to subsume the opposition Syrian
National Council (SNC)." It's been ineffective. It's beset
by infighting. It has little, if any, popular support.
Obama officials want change. In September, Hillary
Clinton met with Syrian dissidents. They were flown to
New York. SNC leaders believe Obama
officials are "trying to undermine" them. Changing the
guard plans confirm his view. Washington hopes to have
new dissidents in charge by November 7. US elections
occur the previous day. "The Obama administration sees
the new council as a potential interim government that
could negotiate with both the international community
and - down the line - perhaps also the Syrian regime."
"The SNC will have a minority
stake in the new body, but some opposition leaders are
still skeptical that the effort will succeed." "The Qatar meeting will include
dozens of opposition leaders from inside Syria,
including from the provincial revolutionary councils,
the local 'coordination committees' of activists, and
select people from the newly established local
administrative councils." Washington calls the initiative
the "Riad Seif plan." He's a former Syrian
parliamentarian/dissident now living outside the
country. Obama officials call him
"central" to forming a new opposition council. They
claim he has broad support. Previous efforts to pick
leaders fell flat. This time likely won't be
different. Libyans want conflict ended.
Violence and instability further Washington's plans.
Syrians supporting it will be spurned. Popular
sentiment wants peace, not war. Don't expect them to
get it. In 2009, the Project for the New
American Century (PNAC) reinvented itself as the
Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI). Policies remain
unchanged. Syrian and Iranian regime change is
prioritized. Direct intervention is urged. On October 16, FPI headlined "Now
is the Time for a Safe Zone in Syria," saying: Things are spinning of control.
Omitted is why and who bears responsibility. Instead
FPI accuses "dictator" Assad of what foreign invaders
inflict on Syrians daily. What else would PNAC say! It
supports stepped up intervention. Diplomacy and
sanctions haven't worked, it said. "Instead, the United States -
working with European allies, Turkey, and other
regional partners - should advance a new strategy that
uses combined airpower to impose a safe zone in
northern Syria, where the country's armed opposition
groups have de facto control of large territory, and
the Assad regime's air defense systems are weaker and
fewer in number." PNAC wants both no-fly and safe
zones imposed. Either or both are acts of war.
Interventionists, of course, want pro-Western puppet
governance replacing Assad. PNAC doesn't disguise its
advocacy. Accusations it makes are
spurious. Western leaders make the same ones. "As the
crisis in Syria worsens, sitting on the sidelines is
no longer a feasible option for the United States," it
says. Washington, of course, was been
directly involved since conflict erupted in early
2011. Obama officials planned it. Full-scale
intervention assures Libya 2.0. Intervening in the
internal affairs of other countries directly or
through proxie violates fundamental international
law. PNAC left those facts
unexplained. Instead it says US-recruited death squads
"are bravely standing up to the Assad regime's
escalating use of force against his own people." He's defending, not attacking,
them. All responsible leaders would do the same thing.
PNAC, Washington, and other Western countries call
self-defense aggression. What else would you expect
them to say? Syrians want foreign invaders
defeated. They're grateful to have Assad defending
them. Expect protracted conflict ahead. Syria's crisis
won't be resolved easily or quickly. Success depends
on defeating NATO's scourge. Western-recruited death squads attacked Kurds in Northwestern Syria in and around Aleppo. Reportedly ceasefire terms are being discussed. Militants attacked Kurdish neighborhoods. Dozens were kidnapped. At least one man held was tortured to death. Kurdish fighters retaliated. A militia called the Popular Protection Unit (YPG) is involved. It was formed in 2004 to safeguard Kurdish communities. Syria's Kurdish minority lives mostly along the Turkish/Iraqi borders. Many live in and around Aleppo. They comprise about 10% of Syria's population. They've mostly stayed neutral in the conflict. They won't remain on the sidelines if they're attacked. The situation bears watching.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour |
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