Both Democrats and Republicans have been trying to sell the
American people a new war, on ISEL (also known as ISIS or the Islamic State).
ABC News Reported that 91percent of the public, poled, believes that ISEL poses
a threat. The American people seem very willing to embrace fear if it is a
foreign threat. President Barack Obama decided to cash in on this and boost his
approval ratings.
“Afghanistan will end this year, “Obama said. “We’re safer.”
But in reality the war in Iraq has not ended since President George W. Bush invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan and created neo-colonial governments in both countries. He used different reasons for invading those countries, but the results were the same—puppet governments with all the major political decision made by the US. There is also a huge investment by this country and few world powers would walk away from such an investment. The US is not the exception to that rule.
When Obama came to office he promised to disengage from Iraq, but as in a shell game, he simply moved the war to Afghanistan. The policies are almost the same.
Obama reminded us, last night, that we are still quite militarily involved in such places as North Africa.
‘We remain vigilant (against terrorists) in the Mid-east and North Africa,‘ he said.
In North Africa, Obama has staged continuous drone attacks against suspected terrorists. These have cause many civilian deaths and amount to assassinations of foreign persons. The drones are judge, jury and executioners all in one.
Obama called ISIL a terrorist organization and a cancer.
“They execute prisoners,” he said. “They rape women. They threaten Iraq and Syria.”
Executing prisoners is nothing unusual in these wars. It is done by nearly all US allies in the region. I have not seen any convincing evidence that ISEL rapes women, but that is standard propaganda that is issued against any group that opposes “US interests.” As far as Iraq, they have been welcomed by the Iraqi people in Sunni areas. Many people in those parts of the country are unsatisfied with the US imposed government. At present Obama has forced out the last Iraqi leader, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, (جواد المالك) and has taken an active role in picking a new leader, along with Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, Haider al-Ibadi (ر العباد العبا). Al-Ibadi is thought to be more inclusive and more acceptable to the Iraqi Sunnis.
Obama admitted that our government has not yet detected threats to Americans here at home as some politicians have claimed.
Obama promised aid to the Syrian opposition to Bashar Hafez al-Assad ( بشار حافظ الأسد ) including equipment and training. Since ISEL is Assad’s main opposition that means the US will support the Free Syrian Army. This is a group many conservatives have wanted to support. They are pro-NATO and an ally of Turkey. They have helped Turkey fight the Kurds and have attacked unarmed political groups in Syria for not supporting them or for getting along with Assad. They have killed civilians and executed prisoners, just as ISIL.
The worst part of the FSA is that they keep asking for all kinds of military aid from the west. They don’t seem to want to develop their own resources so they can fight their own war. If they believe so much in their cause why haven’t they tried to rely on their own resources instead of trying to sell-out to foreign powers?
The one anti-war group in Wichita is the Peace and Social Justice Center. Although their spokesperson was not available for comment, the organization left this statement on their website:
“Afghanistan will end this year, “Obama said. “We’re safer.”
But in reality the war in Iraq has not ended since President George W. Bush invaded both Iraq and Afghanistan and created neo-colonial governments in both countries. He used different reasons for invading those countries, but the results were the same—puppet governments with all the major political decision made by the US. There is also a huge investment by this country and few world powers would walk away from such an investment. The US is not the exception to that rule.
When Obama came to office he promised to disengage from Iraq, but as in a shell game, he simply moved the war to Afghanistan. The policies are almost the same.
Obama reminded us, last night, that we are still quite militarily involved in such places as North Africa.
‘We remain vigilant (against terrorists) in the Mid-east and North Africa,‘ he said.
In North Africa, Obama has staged continuous drone attacks against suspected terrorists. These have cause many civilian deaths and amount to assassinations of foreign persons. The drones are judge, jury and executioners all in one.
Obama called ISIL a terrorist organization and a cancer.
“They execute prisoners,” he said. “They rape women. They threaten Iraq and Syria.”
Executing prisoners is nothing unusual in these wars. It is done by nearly all US allies in the region. I have not seen any convincing evidence that ISEL rapes women, but that is standard propaganda that is issued against any group that opposes “US interests.” As far as Iraq, they have been welcomed by the Iraqi people in Sunni areas. Many people in those parts of the country are unsatisfied with the US imposed government. At present Obama has forced out the last Iraqi leader, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, (جواد المالك) and has taken an active role in picking a new leader, along with Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, Haider al-Ibadi (ر العباد العبا). Al-Ibadi is thought to be more inclusive and more acceptable to the Iraqi Sunnis.
Obama admitted that our government has not yet detected threats to Americans here at home as some politicians have claimed.
Obama promised aid to the Syrian opposition to Bashar Hafez al-Assad ( بشار حافظ الأسد ) including equipment and training. Since ISEL is Assad’s main opposition that means the US will support the Free Syrian Army. This is a group many conservatives have wanted to support. They are pro-NATO and an ally of Turkey. They have helped Turkey fight the Kurds and have attacked unarmed political groups in Syria for not supporting them or for getting along with Assad. They have killed civilians and executed prisoners, just as ISIL.
The worst part of the FSA is that they keep asking for all kinds of military aid from the west. They don’t seem to want to develop their own resources so they can fight their own war. If they believe so much in their cause why haven’t they tried to rely on their own resources instead of trying to sell-out to foreign powers?
The one anti-war group in Wichita is the Peace and Social Justice Center. Although their spokesperson was not available for comment, the organization left this statement on their website:
ON PROPOSED SYRIA
ATTACK
What the president is proposing is an act of war, and illegal since international law says only the UN can intervene militarily. If the US accepts that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, any response by the US also has to stay within a legal framework. Instead of further escalating the conflict by an illegal war, we urge the government to use all available means to press for a thorough investigation through the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Additionally, we oppose any military attack on Syria because:
1) It will not help end the civil war, but only make it more deadly….
What the president is proposing is an act of war, and illegal since international law says only the UN can intervene militarily. If the US accepts that the use of chemical weapons is a violation of international law, any response by the US also has to stay within a legal framework. Instead of further escalating the conflict by an illegal war, we urge the government to use all available means to press for a thorough investigation through the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Additionally, we oppose any military attack on Syria because:
1) It will not help end the civil war, but only make it more deadly….
The president brought up 9/11, as most politicians love to do,
when they want to sell military adventures to the American public. For those of
us who oppose the “policeman of the world” empire building approach to foreign
affairs, this is a difficult issue because neither Democrats nor Republicans
will oppose this role for the US. But that is the political fight many of us
have ahead of us.
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