Syria: will the West attack?

December 2024 Forums General discussion Syria: will the West attack?

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  • #95949
    Clegg wrote:
    Mr Clegg, who will close the Commons debate opened by the Prime Minister in a show of coalition unity, added: "I personally do not want to be part of a generation of political leaders, who, when for the first time in close to a century, we witnessed the ever more frequent use of chemical weapons which have been successfully prohibited for decades and decades, that this generation of politicians basically decided to walk on the other side of the street.

    Now, did I miss something, but what about Halabja?  What about Iraq using gas in the Iran-Iraq war?  The Syria situation is not unprecedented.  I don't mind hypocrisy, but this sounds like pure ignorance on Clegg's part.

    #95948
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    We had the student's essay dodgy dossier. Now we have the YouTube dodgy dossier. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23862114 "The government has published a summary of legal advice from the attorney general, which says military action without UN Security Council backing would be legal, as there is "convincing evidence" of the use of chemical weapons and "there is no practicable alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved". But any action must be "necessary and proportionate to the aim of relief of humanitarian need and must be strictly limited in time and scope to this aim".It also published a letter from John Day, chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee, to the prime minister, saying that the judgement of the Britain's intelligence chiefs is that it is "highly likely" that a chemical attack occurred last week and that the Syrian regime was behind it."There is no credible intelligence or other evidence to substantiate the claims or the possession of CW (chemaical weapons) by the opposition. "The JIC has therefore concluded that there are no plausible alternative scenarios to regime responsibility."We also have a limited but growing body of intelligence which supports the judgement that the regime was responsible for the attacks and that they were conducted to help clear the Opposition from strategic parts of Damascus."The judgement is based on expert analysis of "open source" intelligence, such as the YouTube clips seen on television news bulletins and secret intelligence reports."Duh!! I wonder if the MSM pick up on that . The BBC doesn't seem concerned that the convincing evidence is rebel supplied videoes, nor does the Independent or Guardian from what i have also read

    #95950
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    WhodunnitAP reporter, Matt Lee: Right. But you don't have some kind of smoking gun clear – there is – if there is any doubt left, it is only about who might have used them, not whether they were used at all. Is that correct?State Department Deputy Spokesperson MS. HARF: I think that you can, I guess, use those words.

    #95951
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The speech of John Kerry sounded similar to the speech of Collin Powell given at the United Nation. Again they are looking for weapons of mass destruction and terrorists, and they want to overthrow one of their  own butcher. It is Iraq part 2. If this war is carried over, we are going to see another big massacre in the same way that it took place in Iraq, they even used mini nukes to destroy and penetrate some military bunkers. They are going to combat WMD with others weapons of mass destruction also, and the peoples of Siria are going to pay the consequences, the US is looking for WMD when they have around 15,000 atomic bombs, and all kind of chemicals weapons in their arsenals, and it is one of the biggest producers of chemical weapons.  It is just another war for oil . Why aren't they looking for WMD in places that are planting coconut trees, plantain, and bananas ?  

    #95952
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    There are several left wing groups giving their support to the government of Syria. As in the past some Trotskyite groups gave their support to Saddam Hussein because he was fighting imperialism

    #95953
    ALB
    Keymaster

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23892783

    Quote:
    British MPs have voted against possible military action against Syria to deter the use of chemical weapons.David Cameron said it was clear the British Parliament does not want action and "I will act accordingly".The government motion was defeated 285 to 272, a majority of 13 votes
    #95954
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    A good day for democracy. Perhaps a leaflet handed on on Saturday can make the reference that it is political power that is primary, not sentiment.  But be rest assured we can expect the supplies of arms and equipment to the rebels to increase. Of course,  the Americans don't need Cameron's assistance for an air attack but hopefully the call to arms goes unheeded in other countries and acts to stop a possible attack.   I note from one contribution to the debate that Assad has been elevated to the ranks of the "mad" leaders. 

    #95955
    ALB
    Keymaster
    alanjjohnstone wrote:
    Perhaps a leaflet handed on on Saturday can make the reference that it is political power that is primary, not sentiment.

    I don't think we've time to produce a leaflet for tomorrow, but we could distribute this pamphlet of ours:This might reinforce the caricature of our position (since we don't think parliament should be used to get reforms but in the course of the socialist revolution, though a Socialist MP would surely have voted No last night) but it's a question direct actionists and anti-parliamentarists should be asking themselves.

    #95956
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    No 10 and the Foreign Office think Miliband is a fucking cunt and a copper-bottomed shit. Oh, we could have told them that long ago and why such restrained language!! The war of words from “open source intelligence” “However, from numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families, a different picture emerges. Many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the dealing gas attack.” “They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K.’ “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”http://www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-supplied-rebels-with-chemical-weapons/168135/ If the rebels are logistically incapable, the Saudis are not.  I have seen several articles and interviews where the claim that there is no evidence that it was the rebels but in fact as the above plus and the actual discovery of those chemical weapon supplies have simply been dismissed as irrelevant pro-Assad propaganda.  As i earlier posted we have only the hard evidence of an Israeli radio inception which keeps re-surfacing in reports but with little added to it, and even if genuine,  it can easily be miscontrued as were similar radio messages claimed about the hiding of WMDs during the Iraq war build-up . Let us hear it and let the translators release the text. 

    #95957
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    I'm a little puzzled.Why is the UN Inspection ending on Saturday. I thought the purpose was to visit earlier alleged chemical weapon  attack sites which they appear no longer interested in visiting?If it is because they are under the threat of attack from American missiles and bombs then the media should be high-lighting this. It also highlights the so-called accuracy if the Americans cannot guarantee they won't hit their hotel!Or are they are simply abandoning their original mandate and not fulfilling their duty to investigate and report. 

    #95958
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    The UN have done a runner into the Lebanon y…the third time AFAIK, they have failed completion of their mission due to American interventions…surely people should recognise the pattern now… 

    #95959
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Carr, Australian foreign minister,  indvertently lets the cat out the bag about Iraq while trying to justify Syrian attack."…we recognise the importance of America in this case not seeking strategic advantage, it's not doing that; not seeking an economic advantage like access to oil, it's not doing that…"http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3838126.htmBlair dismissed the war for oil as a conspiracy theory. 

    #95960
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Stop the War and Counterfire (more or less the same thing) are claiming that their regular little demonstrations over the years were "central" to the No Vote in Parliament:http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/events/16618-national-demonstration-no-attack-on-syria-saturday-31-augustTalk about delusions of grandeur. Not to mention delusions about the efficacy of endless protests demos, See this leaflet of ours from 2006:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.co.uk/2006/09/is-protest-really-enough.html.And, again, from 2008:http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.co.uk/2008/03/be-realistic-demand-impossible.html

    #95961
    jondwhite
    Participant

    Huh, Cameron was stopped prior to the Syrian demo? The biggest demo prior to a war in recent memory was the Iraq one in 2003 which failed to stop the war. This Stop the War hype does nothing but generate hysteria.

    #95962
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Smart bombs dropped by stupid pilots

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