Freedom is on the march to Syria.
Disclaimer – I am not on Syria’s side if they did murder the Lebanese PM, but I find this all a little too convenient as a case for war by the neocons. Take it for what it is, but we seem to have heard all of this before.
… about 3 years ago actually.
President Bush said today that military action was a “last resort” in dealing with Syria if Damascus refused to co-operate with a United Nations investigation into the murder of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
….
“A military (option) is always the last choice of a president,” Mr Bush told al-Arabiya television in an interview broadcast today. “I am hoping that they will cooperate. It is the last — very last option… I’ve worked hard for diplomacy and will continue to work the diplomatic angle on this issue.”
Could someone point me to where exactly Bush has been working hard on diplomacy with Syria these last 5 years? When did he stop beating the terrorism, aiding the insurgency & torturers (only when they’re doing it without the extraordinary renditions dropped in their laps by the US) drums long enough to try diplomacy?
“This is true confessions time now for the government of Syria,” Mr Bolton said. “No more obstruction. No more half measures. We want substantive cooperation and we want it immediately.”
Wow, I’m amazed that Bolton would be so honest about what the international community expects from America… oops, sorry, I forgot, Orwell lives.
In his interview with al-Arabiya, a transcript of which was obtained by Reuters, Mr Bush said Syria had to meet a set of demands from the international community, including expelling Palestinian militant groups, preventing insurgents from crossing its borders into Iraq to fight US forces, and ending Syrian interference in Lebanon.
“Nobody wants there to be a confrontation. On the other hand, there must be serious pressure applied,” he said.
“In other words, there are some clear demands by the world. And this report, as I say, had serious implications for Syria, and the Syrian government must take the demands of the free world very seriously.”
Nobody wanted to invade Iraq of course, it was totally a last resort… is history really repeating itself already? Are we going to allow the US populace to fall for it again? Is it now the US’s job to patrol the world and invade countries who aren’t following UN resolutions? When would you get the time?
Mr Bush would not be pinned down on what action Washington would take if Syria does not comply. “I certainly hope that people take a good look at the Mehlis report … there’s clear implications about Syrians’ involvement in the death of a foreign leader,” he said.
Really? Does this mean that he’s going to open the files on the US’s involvement in assassinations of foreign leaders (including the failed attempts on Chavez and Castro) so we can all take a good look and decide the best course of action to take to remedy this serious situation? Thought not. And people wonder why America is reviled in the third & second-world’s (and in a large portion of the “first” world to boot).
The funniest (in a dark sense) part of the article comes when Bush is asked if he will support international war crimes charges against those who killed Hariri as his son is calling for. Now, most peace-loving internationalists who weren’t looking to start a war would jump all over the chance to try these guys and show the world what justice and democracy is all about… but that ain’t our Bush… justice is never a clear cut way to go for him… unless he’s trying to suppress votes in Florida of course.
“Well, we want people to be held to account. And I’d be glad to talk to other leaders to determine whether or not that’s the best course of action. But certainly, people do need to be held to account. And the first course of action is to go the United Nations,”
I really didn’t think it would escalate this fast, but with the UN draft report released (yes, you heard that correctly, this report was just a draft, the investigation continues until Dec. 15th according to Annan), the US jumped. But the US doesn’t care about the wheels of justice and evidentiary procedures to determine culpability (damn that pesky Hans Blix). Bush wants to cut it short and move now.
The Bush Administration is talking about next Monday as a target date for a resolution.
For additional background on how the US is setting up the Syrian campaign, see: SusanHu’s diary ~ NSC Chief Hadley asked Italy for a Bashar Replacement & an article Bri found ~ Syria Being Set Up to Fail
cross posted @ Jaded Reality & My Left Wing
I don’t think my mental health will survive if he succeeds in an attack on Syria. Seriously. History can’t repeat that soon. It can’t. We can’t let it. Can we?
You’d think, independent of “we,” that eventually our own military would revolt. How much more can they take??
The most darkly comic line for me is your Bolton quote about how this is confession time for the government of Syria.
no doubt… when will enough be enough for them?? and what the hell happens to the US if they do lay down their arms and refuse to fight for Bush?
I’ve wondered that, too. A country is in dire straits when its military gets a mind of its own. The Bush people are interesting. . .in the manner in which rattlesnakes are interesting. . .in that they go to such extremes themselves that they trigger equal and opposite extremes. Rattlesnake: hoe. Neo-cons: military coup?
but they have taken their frustrations out on Iraqis. I can’t predict what will take place if Syria kicks off. From where I sit it sounds so crazy it is mind blowing. They have been trying to wag the dog though every way imaginable and Bush and Company just keep freefalling in the polls. Everybody knows that a war stirs up the people, but with all the lies about Iraq I don’t know what it will stir up. Understand though that if the military breaks ranks not all of them will, the dedication of some is greater than that of others……there will be infighting and fragging and people killing their own. Breaking ranks is treason, it’s just a matter of who is going to die first in the field……the one who commits the treason or the one willing to report it and see it punished.
because it must, mine will too….because it must. I can’t imagine what they are going to fight with without a draft. It is a good way to attempt to iradicate Sunni support in Iraq, but doomed to failure and killing thousands of innocents again. We don’t have the troops or the troop moral to attempt it though IMO. I know that my opinion and BuchCo seem to never be on the same page but BushCo really seems to have a HUGE problem with denial, and I think my denial disorder is a lot smaller. Our mental health must survive though spider because wars must still be brought to an end by someone at sometime and sacrificing ourselves for someone else’s sin won’t cut it. If it happens, detach as much as you can and continue to work the work! 😉 In our darkest hours our true faith in all that is good will be built and will grow strong and will be shared. The best of who we all are will be exposed and we will survive and then we will overcome.
If this article from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette is accurate. then its too late. Most Salient Points from the article:
“U.S. forces have started fighting Syrians at Iraq’s border. Can anybody say ‘Cambodia’?”
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“As I suspected six months ago, U.S. military and Bush administration civilian officials confirmed last week that U.S. forces have invaded Syria and engaged in combat with Syrian forces.”
“An unknown number of Syrians are acknowledged to have been killed; the number of Americans — if any — who have died in Syria so far has not yet been revealed by the U.S. sources, who by the way insist on remaining faceless and nameless.”
“The parallel with the Vietnam War, where a Nixon administration deeply involved in a losing war expanded the conflict — fruitlessly in the event — to neighboring Cambodia, is obvious. The end result was not changed in Vietnam; Cambodia itself was plunged into dangerous chaos, which climaxed in the killing fields, where an estimated 1 million Cambodians died as a result of internal conflict.”
The link for the entire article is here;
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05292/590727.stm
GREAT job, Spiderleaf…. hope you stay on this.
This guy has lots of dirt on Bolton:
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com
YOU AND WHOSE ARMY?
Blackwater’s?
I hear there are some mujahdeen in Afghanistan that currently aren’t occupied fighting the Soviets… perhaps they could be persuaded to take on Syria if the price is right…
Or maybe the well trained Iraqi army we keep hearing about will be available for the mission…
well… if all else fails, there’s always “bunker-busting” nukes I guess.
I rated that up, but not, as one might suspect, for it’s humourous value. It’s the spot-on truth imo.
probably sounded like spot-on-truth ’cause I was deadly serious about all those options.
😉
Posted by Josh Landis and includes the text of a letter sent from the Syrian Ambassador to the US in a response to Congress:
Syria Being Set Up to Fail
Some of the comments on this are quite interesting as well.
you Masters of War, you bastards.
It is my understanding that members of the Lebanese Intelligence were also involved with Hariri`s assassination. But let`s forget that part & invade Syria since we cannot protect even the border with Iraq. Is Halliburton running low on funds & needs to install another dozen bases.