Israel’s massive air strikes against Syria are, beyond argument, illegal. There is no provision in international law that enables you to bomb another country because that country is in internal chaos. Yet the reporting on the BBC, and indeed throughout the mainstream media, makes no mention of their illegality, and makes no mention of the people killed. Contrast this to the condemnatory tone of BBC reporting of North Korean ballistic missile tests, or of Iran’s civil uranium enrichment programme, both of which I view as neither wise nor desirable, but both of which are undoubtedly quite legal.
I have previously noted that Israel does not want the Syrian regime to fall. Tel Aviv has looked long and hard at the likely result, and decided that the risks are too great; an Israel-friendly Sunni strongman could yet be engineered, but a jihadist influenced government is a very real danger for them. This Israeli coolness is the major reason that the Obama government have stepped back from stoking directly the flames of war, although they continue to do so through their Saudi, Qatar and other allies.
But a Syria tearing itself to pieces is, so long as it lasts, pretty acceptable to Netanyahu. He can step in when he wants and destroy Syria’s military infrastructure, such as the defensive installations just wiped out in massive strikes around Damascus. This is very helpful to Israel’s long term military domination. Normally the scale of this devastating Israeli attack on Syria’s ability to defend itself against Israel air strikes would have brought the most profound world condemnation, but suddenly it is “humanitarian intervention” – and nobody in the western media has even felt the need to justify the narrative that Damascus’ air defences were a humanitarian threat to rebel populations.
In the meantime, a clear statement from the United Nations that the evidence points to rebels, not the government, using the chemical weapon Sarin in Syria, does appear on the BBC website but I have not heard it broadcast, and it does not figure in western media with a hundredth of the prominence given to the unsubstantiated claims of Assad forces using Sarin.
I am in no sense a supporter of Assad. I should dearly love to see his regime overthrown and a democratic government representing the Syrian people installed instead. But the attempt to subvert Syria and influence the country towards the installation of a US and House of Saud backed puppet regime, backed by an extraordinary barrage of distorted propaganda to fool western populations over the course and meaning of events, is sickening.
Interesting insight here into how the American state terrorist mind is currently thinking about Syria.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnpS4shHVFk
This is precisely the game they played during the Iraq/Iran war too. In that case direct intervention wasn’t possible, and that is obviously the conclusion they’ve come to on Syria for the moment.
Ben
Sure. They’re not going so far as to remove material support from the rebels though.
It seems that the policy is to support rebels materially and every so often Israel will attack should the Syrian govt show any sign of prevailing.
Meanwhile more and more people are slaughtered, butchered and die.
Western policy is exposed as pure evil.
We can only hope these terrorists lose control.
Del Ponte is pretty much persona non grata with the US State Dept, earning their obloquy for accusing (in 2008)the KLA of organ harvesting during the 1999 conflict when they, like the anti Assad forces today, were the officially designated ‘good guys’.The Foggy Bottom in house magazine has just published a hit piece on her at this link (registration required)-
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/05/06/the_clarifying_of_the_uns_carla_del_ponte
Interesting article, casting further doubt on the veracity of the noises emerging from Washington, as if that were needed given their history of proven, routine and familiar lying.
“As we consider the conflicting reports of the use of chemical weapons that have emerged from Syria over the past weeks, it is worth recalling that the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria has in the past used crude chemical weapons on multiple occasions in neighboring Iraq.”
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/06/opinion/bergen-chemical-weapons-syria/index.html
It’s worth pointing out that there is little material difference between Del Ponte’s statement and her office’s supposed retraction.
And additionally her office’s statement does not support the position of Washington.
It inclines much more to her statement than the position of Washington, who have simply been caught misinterpreting the findings again.
‘Thank Christ for Robert Fisk, the corporate media’s single saving fucking grace.’
I second that!
O/T and by the by
The Queen is not attending the Heads of Government Commonwealth conference for the first time since 1973. It is being held in Sri Lanka in November. It has obviously been decided that it is politically unadvisable for her to visit or maybe it is her own decision. P. Charles will deputise.
I watched an excellent and balanced Our World report by Charles Haviland the other day. ‘Not currently available on iPlayer.’ Why not when they have repeats of trivia and dross like soaps?
Our World :
Sri Lanka’s Open Wounds
Duration: 30 minutes
It is four years since Sri Lankan government troops crushed the Tamil Tiger separatist militants, ending the civil war. But 30 years of violence has left a bleak legacy.
Politically motivated ‘disappearances’ continue along with suppression of critical voices. The BBC’s correspondent in Sri Lanka, Charles Haviland, reports for Our World on the lasting trauma for victims of the war who feel their voices are not being heard.
Charles asks whether Sri Lanka can have the bright future its leaders promise if it does not address the darker aspects of the country’s recent past, and its present.
(Not available)
I think of Liam Fox and Adam Werritty’s involvement there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/13/adam-werritty-liam-fox-sri-lanka
and from Ron Ridenour
http://dissidentvoice.org/2013/03/human-rights-council-resolution-on-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka/
‘Critics assert that the US and Europe are not seriously advancing the rights of Tamils nor actually sanctioning GoSL for its brutal war crimes, and certainly not its 65 year-long genocide against the minority Tamils. They point out that the US, its side-kick Israel and NATO countries, always aided the Sri Lankan government.
The Western powers provided Sri Lanka’s military with weaponry, money, counter-intelligence, and training to win the long war against Tamil nationhood. Then, since their mutual victory, the Western axis criticizes the Asian government for having committed excesses. This “human rights” approach is the best of all possible worlds for Western dictates: world domination for the cause of humanity is what they say if you read between the lips of communicators for globalization.’
He is also critical of other countries’ involvement. What is it about Sri Lanka that draws all these players in? Is there some strategic importance?
‘China, Russia, Iran, India and Pakistan also militarily and economically assisted Sri Lankan governments in avoiding federalism for the two peoples—majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils—yet they did so without the hyperbole of “protecting human rights.” Unfortunately, Cuba and its seven associates in the Latin American-nation Bolivarian Alliance of the peoples of the Americas (ALBA) got caught up in the geo-political game and supported Sri Lanka.’
Habba… 9:27pm:
Straight from the Hasbara manual of substance-avoiding put downs. Wearing a bit thin now though, as anyone who has taken the trouble to read that benighted but startlingly prohetic document can attest.
Whoever were its authors – and the Tzar’s Okhrana are favourites for the version that causes all the fuss – they certainly knew their Pharisaic Judaism. Its repellant insults against us Goyim are in fact mild compared to the uncensored Babylonian Talmud (pretty much unobtainable in English – I wonder why?) which, under pain of death (I kid you not), non-Jews are forbidden from study, and which remains at the heart of Orthodox belief. As for the substance of its overall narrative, it is uncannilly akin to what has and continues to unfold, as anyone who has actually read it can attest.
For those who have not yet committed that unforgivable sin of judging for themselves – and forgive me for suspecting H to number among them – Here it is in all its forbidden allure
From now on, anything by anybody mentioning any supposedly prophetic documents, from whatever viewpoint, will simply be deleted.
From now on, anything by anybody mentioning any supposedly prophetic documents, from whatever viewpoint, will simply be deleted.
Thanks for that reassurance, Craig, what if it is Habbakuk?
Quite right Craig…it was getting boring !
From now on, anything by anybody mentioning any supposedly prophetic documents, from whatever viewpoint, will simply be deleted.
At the next election, I will vote for any candidate of whatever (secular) persuasion, who undertakes to make this sensible policy law.
Yes, it must be remembered that Assad is an ally of Iran. And as no-one quite dares to start an unprovoked war with Iran, even to save poor little Israel from its perpetual feeling of existential dread, neocon policy continues to prefer destabilising its allies. And neocon policy can rely on Israel’s ability to spot a bad situation and make it even worse. So I guess the recent strikes, which were transparently not on Hizb’ullah-bound weaponry, but on Assad’s arms dumps, one close to a nerve gas repository, had the full blessing of Obama, and whichever dual-citizenship lowlifes are advising him these days.
R4 last night and this morning was reporting the UN’s findings re. nerve gas.
As well as the plain common sense of Robert Fisk’s article linked by Doug Scorgie and now me two things caught my attention. The date is wrong, being given as Sunday 5 May, and comments are closed for legal reasons. The first is most likely a simple mistake. Comments being closed for legal reasons means that those who control the media do not want people to express opinions which contradict authority.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/robert-fisk-the-truth-is-that-after-israels-air-strikes-we-are-involved-8604593.html
Fisk’s argument that if the US and UK do not condemn Israel for these attacks they condone them. There has been no condemnation. When Israel made an alarming overkill attack on Lebanon William Hague, not noted for his criticism of Israel, called it disproportionate.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9740044/The-cowardice-at-the-heart-of-our-relationship-with-Israel.html
Peter Oborne in his Despatches coverage of William Hague’s condemnation pointed out how Jewish donations to Tory funds stopped in retaliation for the aforementioned honest appraisal by Hague, and this brought the Tories quickly back into line. In my comment yesterday I called Israel the Banker to the world and the above shows how governments are bought for Israel’s many violations of international law. Only a collapse in the corrupt financial systems of the world can make human rights an important issue again. Nathan Rockefeller, when questioned by Aaron Russo about proposed killing of other people to achieve world domination, asked Russo why should he be worried about them. As one of them I am concerned.
Neocons: Hear also what Mother Jones saith –
http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2013/04/obama-syria-chemical-weapon-neocon
But real neocons, it seems, do not get squishy when the question is US troops on Syrian soil. After Obama’s press conference, a publicist for the American Center for Democracy shot out a press release touting the group’s director, Rachel Ehrenfeld, and her proposals for action in Syria. She has three simple steps for the United States: bypass the United Nations and impose a no-fly zone in Syria; stop giving arms to rebels associated with Al Qaeda; and deploy US troops within Syria to secure chemical-weapons facilities. Given that Syria probably has scores, if not hundreds, of chemical-weapons sites, such a force would entail tens of thousands of US troops, perhaps hundreds of thousands. And these soldiers would likely have to fight their way to these sites. (No cake-walking here.)
Her proposal would entail invading Syria with a massive force of US troops. But Ehrenfeld’s position is not that surprising, considering the board members and advisers for her American Center for Democracy. They include Richard Perle, one of the most hawkish neocons, who led the cheerleading for the invasion of Iraq, and former CIA chief R. James Woolsey, who after 9/11 promoted the neoconnish conspiracy theory that Saddam Hussein was the secret puppet master controlling Al Qaeda. On the ACD’s list of advisers are retired Lt. General Thomas McInerney and retired Maj. General Paul Vallely, who were each over-the-top supporters of the Iraq War on Fox News.
One sign that Syria is indeed a hard case is that the neocons and the usual hawks are not entirely united. They are torn over whether to arm the anti-Assad forces, substantial portions of which are aligned with jihadists and extremists hostile to the United States, Israel, and the West. Some are squeamish about sending in US troops. Yet Bill Kristol, the son-of-the-godfather of the neocons, a few days ago denounced Obama’s reluctance to take military action in Syria and proclaimed, “No one wants to start wars, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.” Ehrenfeld and the American Center for Democracy are demonstrating that the most hawkish neocons are ready to heed Kristol and go all-out in Syria. They want American boots on the ground, and they’re not likely to stop squawking until there is an invasion.
Ehrenfeld (and many old favourites – Woolsey, Perle, and Nina Rosenwald (of JINSA and MEMRI)are gathered conveniently together here:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Ehrenfeld_Rachel
@ Craig (and Wikispooks) :
Come on, I was merely pointing out that repeating the tired old saw that “Israel is “the banker to the world” (that was John Goss) is as silly as believing in the authenticity of the ‘document’ the name of which we are not allowed to mention. Repeat : both are tired and pernicious untruths.
What on earth is wrong with saying that?
Well, next time find another analogy.
Excellent analysis of Israel’s aggression here:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-060513.html
(Untainted by jingoist neocons or apologists for Assad)
@ Mark Golding :
“Invoking ‘the Assad family’ is media newspeak – my blood father was a ‘bar-steward’ – I am not.”
———
But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? You didn’t ‘inherit’ your father’s job (and you were presumably not groomed to), whereas Assad the Son inherited his father’s, without anyone else – and certainly not the Syrian people – having any say in it.
There are many indications that the attack was carefully planned a long time in advance, and some that the US actively participated in the planning. According to a Reuters report published last month, the American-brokered Israeli apology to Turkey in March was geared precisely toward such a strike, since Israelis and Turks had played aerial brinkmanship over Syria and Lebanon on recent occasions in the past. [4]
Also the timing of a “surprise” Israeli drill in the north, which started days before the attacks, suggests that the raids had been carefully scripted, as does recent open talk by Hezbollah about a war in the next six weeks. Given the long rostrum of American and Israeli officials which visited each other’s capitals lately, and the support voiced by the White House for Israel’s right “to take the actions they feel are necessary to protect their people”, it is hard to believe that Obama was surprised by the operation.
Ibid. Above.
Here’s William Jefferson Hague on the attack: … insists Israel’s right to defend itself must be respected…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10038635/Syria-air-strike-Israel-has-the-right-to-defend-itself-says-William-Hague.html
Is that to your satisfaction, Bibi? If there is any deficiency in my computer-generated response to your efforts to promote regional peace, please do not hesitate to inform one of the servants, and it will be rectified immediately. And thanks for the donation to Tory funds, which arrived as usual via one of our regular cutouts.
Oh, and Obama please copy:
The Foreign Secretary also said the recent escalation in the conflict and Israel’s airstrikes showed that the conflict risked spreading beyond Syria’s borders to the wider Middle East and reiterated it was time to consider lifting the arms embargo on Syria’s opposition.
“The longer this goes on, the stronger the case becomes for lifting the arms embargoes on the National Coalition, on the Syrian opposition, if we’re left with no other alternative to that,” William Hague said.
Yes, you got that right. The wording is perfect. Israel isn’t singlehandedly encouraging the conflict to become regional. It’s showing us the threat to which we can best respond by making the conflict regional. And that’s terrific.
Honestly. The lad should have been a politician…
Concur, Komodo, this unilateral action by a rogue element NATO cannot control, makes it a volatile mix operating there.
So called arch enemies, Salafist’s from various western countries, working with Israel, who can see vast swathes of land it can hold under ‘occupation’, just as the Golan, all working to oust Assad.
Turkey is the key to his future and I can’t say that Erdogan is enthralled by Netanyahu’s Syrian attacks, but he also accuses Bashar of covering up a massacre supposedly happening at the same time.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/israeli-air-strikes-on-syria-unacceptable-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=46377&NewsCatID=338
The Syrian ‘inheritance of power’ sounds just like that of our ruling monarchy.
Correction to my post at 12.11am above
It seems that US policy is to support rebels materially up to a certain level of weaponry, and Israel will provide strategic support by attacking with heavier weaponry as necessary.
Both the US and Israel don’t want to provide heavier weapons to the rebels directly for fear they may be used against Israel at a later stage.
Israel isn’t defending itself at all. It’s attacking Syria on the rebels behalf.
“a jihadist influenced government is a very real danger for them.” – I strongly disagree.
The so called “Jihadists” are NOT fighting their ‘natural’ enemy, not now nor before the implosion of Syria. No, they are fighting Assad.
Actually the amorphous nature of the so called “Jihadists” makes it all but impossible to ‘read’ them (and their goals), but it’s clear they are NOT attacking the Zionist entity an it’s not too hard to come up with simple and plausible reasons as to why that is.
@ April Showers/Mary :
“The Syrian ‘inheritance of power’ sounds just like that of our ruling monarchy.”
———-
Come on now, you’re not being serious.
Hint : key word : “power”.
@ Craig :
Will try! Suggestions welcome, but how about the Zinoviev letter?
Influential Republican lawmaker John McCain said Israel’s air strikes on Syria could add pressure on the Obama administration to intervene, but the U.S. government faces tough questions on how it can help without adding to the conflict.
“We need to have a game-changing action, and that is no American boots on the ground, establish a safe zone and to protect it and to supply weapons to the right people in Syria who are fighting, obviously, for the things we believe,” McCain said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“Every day that goes by, Hezbollah increases their influence and the radical jihadists flow into Syria and the situation becomes more and more tenuous,” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/06/us-syria-crisis-usa-strikes-idUSBRE94502320130506
Love that equation between Shi’a Hizb’ullah (hate AQ’s guts) and “radical jihadists” (codespeak for Sunni-aligned Salafists – hate everyone’s guts).
Philologists will also appreciate the word ‘tenuous’, there. And will wish for the situation to become more and more tenuous until it disappears… I don’t think McCain is a philologist, somehow.
Some of his eggs at any rate are in a familiar basket –
http://www.jpost.com/On-the-Web/LIVE-McCain-Biden-and-Netanyahu-address-AIPAC
Nevermind – thanks for the link. Erdoğan is someone for whom I have some respect, and he’s between a rock and a hard place. Turkey’s borders have been alight for decades and he must be wishing for stability on these. A further complication is the Kurdish presence in N. Syria. I’m glad he can still see the Israeli action for what it is, and I don’t think he’ll find too much sympathy in S. Turkey for arming Kurds.
If this is true, the Israelis are even more evil than I thought.
Israel used depleted uranium in airstrike on Syria: Report
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/06/302129/israel-hit-syria-using-depleted-uranium/
A senior Syrian official says Israel has used depleted uranium in its recent airstrike against the Jamraya Research Center in the outskirts of Damascus.
The official, who was present near the attack site on Sunday morning, told Russia Today that Israel used “a new type of weapon” during the airstrike.
“When the explosion happened, it felt like an earthquake,” the official, who asked not to be named, added.
“Then a giant golden mushroom of fire appeared. This tells us that Israel used depleted uranium shells,” the Syrian official said.
“Several civilian factories and buildings were destroyed. The target was just an ordinary weapons warehouse. The bombing is an ultimatum to us,” he added.
The Syrian official also refuted the claims by Western intelligence sources that the airstrike targeted transfers of weapons from the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah to Syria.
Jamraya Research Center had been targeted by another Israeli airstrike back in January.
The Sunday attack came shortly after Tel Aviv confirmed that its warplanes had hit another target in Syria on Friday.
On Saturday, US President Barack Obama said the Israeli regime has the right to launch airstrikes on Syria.
Syria’s Foreign Ministry has sent letters to the United Nations and its Security Council stating that Israel’s aggression shows the link between Tel Aviv and terrorist groups operating in Syria including the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front.
Meanwhile, the anti-Syria countries including Turkey and several Arab states in the region have been mum on Tel Aviv’s acts of aggression against Syria.
I’d rather see a chemical analysis of the dust….other accounts suggest that the bombs used were fuel-air. These cause heavy blast damage over a wide area, which is what we are looking at here –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vDDLQg5c5Y
There would be no particular reason to use DU except as a penetration weapon, or as powder in an enhanced explosive…in which case the blast range is reduced, though intensified locally. An unmodified fuel-air weapon gives the biggest bang available short of a nuke.