MSNBC: All You Need To Know About Bombing Syria

September 3, 2013

As the United States decides wheather to bomb Syria with hundreds or with thousands of cruise missiles its media are doing their very best to explain the situation to the somewhat uninformed public.

Consider, for example, the premier program Hardball with Chris Matthews on MSNBC. Its webpage helpfully provides an overview piece on Syria headlined: In Syria debate, little mention of rebels. The story highlights the, much exaggerated, sectarian difference between the Syrian president Assad and his supporters versus the groups driving the insurgency. An excerpt:

In Syria, the religious dynamic is particularly acute as Assad –a secular Sunni — is under attack mostly from religious Shia groups with varied interests and outside support. It is unknown which groups, if any, may be affiliated politically with elements in Shia-ruled Iran, Saudi Arabia or even Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Okay, Assad is a Sunni and that is obviously why AlQaeda, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fighting him. It must also be the reason why Iran and Hizbullah are supporting some groups against him. That was really important to learn.

As MSNBC will likely correct that bummer without noting the correction, just a the New York Times is striking AIPAC pressure to hit Syria and Iran out of its stories, here is a screenshot taken about 10 minutes ago.

bigger

Anyway, it is good to see that the thoughtful and knowledgeable U.S. media at least try to get the U.S. citizens reasonable informed and thereby equipped to make thoughtful decisions about global war and peace.

Posted by b on September 3, 2013 at 07:49 UTC | Permalink

Comments

MSNBC, not MSCBC. But I know its difficult to tell the difference. Like Coke and Pepsi.

Posted by: johnf | Sep 3 2013 8:01 utc | 1

This is exposing the humanitarian ‘right to protect’ charade and it’s followers. Given that it is necessary at time like these to invoke Hitler (i.e. Hitler is the new Assad – ooops, wrong way round, my bad), even Hitler invoked a ‘right to protect’ Germans as rationale for his invasions, at least in the early days. Later the gloves came off.

Posted by: Yonatan | Sep 3 2013 8:02 utc | 2

Is there any debris from the alleged gas-attack? If the army fired missiles it would create Deep holes in the ground/Buildings etc – have anyone seen that? I have only seen rockets laying on the ground (UN team footage), which in turn points toward that rebels fired the rocket.

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 8:07 utc | 3

ok, I am the heretic – but this way to sum up a complex issue for the short attention span of a public that is not really interested is pure genius
Sarah Palin ‏@SarahPalinUSA 30 Aug
LET ALLAH SORT IT OUT “So we’re bombing Syria because Syria is bombing Syria? And I’m the idiot?” – Sarah… http://fb.me/J5TdT7uE
The linked facebook post is also lethal political poison.
Congress will be fun the next two weeks.

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 8:29 utc | 4

This is interesting..
Sweden is apparently one of the states testing the samples from Syria. It will be tested at the Think-tank/research organization “FOI”. FOI were apparently caught last year for having secret ties to Saudiarabia helping them with building missiles…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Simoom
Could the testers of samples be trusted?

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 8:32 utc | 5

Okay, Assad is a Sunni and that is obviously why AlQaeda, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are fighting him.
I thought Assad was an Alawite, which is a sect of Shiism?

Posted by: Steve J. | Sep 3 2013 8:58 utc | 6

@5
It’s worth nothing that Saudi built a huge ballistic missile program, and while disavowing nuclear weapons they’ve built a robust chemical weapons program.

Posted by: Crest | Sep 3 2013 10:06 utc | 7

5) No one has yet explained how so many could have died. No one seems to have died immediately after the Tokyo subway attack and that was in closed rooms.
Effects of Sarin

How sarin works
The extent of poisoning caused by sarin depends on the amount of sarin to which a person was exposed, how the person was exposed, and the length of time of the exposure.
Symptoms likely will appear within a few seconds after exposure to the vapor form of sarin and within a few minutes to hours after exposure to the liquid form.
All nerve agents cause their toxic effects by preventing the proper operation of an enzyme that acts as the body’s “off switch” for glands and muscles. Without an “off switch,” the glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated. Exposed people may become tired and no longer be able to keep breathing.
Sarin is the most volatile of the nerve agents. This means it can easily and quickly evaporate from a liquid into a vapor and spread into the environment. People can be exposed to the vapor even if they do not come in contact with the liquid form of sarin.
Because it evaporates so quickly, sarin presents an immediate but short-lived threat.

Basically it is not that easy to die from Sarin.
US, France, Britain say delivered by missile in the morning hours – ie not many people on the streets. People in apartments hit by missiles would die or be hurt by missiles – Doctors without borders/Human Rights Watch say no other wounds, in the open the sarin would evaporate quickly.
In Halabja (the Iraq example) the stuff was mixed with some other type of chemical and spread by planes. People died in the streets. Kerry describes this

This includes the detection of rocket launches from regime controlled territory early in the morning, approximately 90 minutes before the first report of a chemical attack appeared in social media. The lack of flight activity or missile launches also leads us to conclude that the regime used rockets in the attack.
Local social media reports of a chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs began at 2:30 a.m. local time on August 21. Within the next four hours there were thousands of social media reports on this attack from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area. Multiple accounts described chemical-filled rockets impacting opposition-controlled areas.

So in the morning with no one on the street, definitively not children, no other injuries from the rockets but effects of chemical poisoning how is this supposed to have happened? And what would be the tactical advantage?
It is obvious B.S.

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 10:08 utc | 8

More on the military use of Sarin – from Wikipedia
“Agents classified as nonpersistent lose effectiveness after only a few minutes or hours or even only a few seconds. Purely gaseous agents such as chlorine are nonpersistent, as are highly volatile agents such as sarin. Tactically, nonpersistent agents are very useful against targets that are to be taken over and controlled very quickly.”
No one claims affected areas were taken over after the rocket attack.

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 10:15 utc | 9

Is this the french?
Russia says detects two missile launches in Mediterranean ends up in the sea?
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/russia-says-detects-two-missile-launches-in-mediterranean/articleshow/22254305.cms

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 10:16 utc | 10

Have Google removed SANA from the search engine?! Or do you people find it on Google?

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 10:26 utc | 11

Re#10: The story comes from here, with updates here.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 10:26 utc | 12

Shortly after Russia announced it detected the launch of two ballistic missiles from the central part of the Mediterranean, Israel’s Defense Ministry issued a statement saying it successfully tested an Anchor target missile. The missile is part of Israel’s Hetz anti-missile system. The test was carried out with the US Missile Defense Agency. (Source)

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 10:41 utc | 13

Rowan
Look at that. Of course it is Israel and Obama that provoke..why are’nt we surprised.

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 10:52 utc | 14

Israel says carries out joint missile test with US in the Med
Reuters, Sep 3 2013
JERUSALEM – Israel said it carried out a test of a missile used as a target in a US-funded anti-missile system, in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. The Israeli Defence Ministry said the test was conducted at 0915 IDT. RIA Novosti reported that Russian radar had detected the launch of two ballistic “objects” in the Mediterranean at 0916 IDT.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 10:53 utc | 15

@13 Rowan, are you kidding me? The Israelis fired off a ballistic missile test and DIDN’T tell the Russians about the test launch beforehand?
Are these guys coo-coo-crazy? Or are they simply mad as hatters?
No doubt they spent their childhood running through the house clutching knives and scissors to you chest, all the better to get to that place where all the matches are kept….

Posted by: Johnboy | Sep 3 2013 10:56 utc | 16

SANA still works for me, in England, but it no longer appears in my Google search results, either under SANA or under Syrian Arab News Agency.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 10:57 utc | 17

Johh Kerry, the decedent of Rabbi Judah Loew, the famous Kabbalist, philosopher and Talmudist known as the Maharal of Prague. If something was going to happen it will be tomorrow, the 4th of September, the beginning of Roshhashanah (the New Year, a new creation), when the shofar is blown announcing the day of judgement for the wicked. Israel always choose a festal day to start their wars. Was the 2 bombs a mistake, did somebody pre jump orders and was shot down! The good thing is Russia detected this, so did the Iranians.

Posted by: hans | Sep 3 2013 11:11 utc | 18

Funny isn’t it??
This whole nonsense was supposed to be a little bluff to intimidate Syria into submission. it didn’t work so they had to escalate it.
We’re witnessing the “ABC” of how leaders stupidly talk themselves into dangerous situations. Imagine if O-bomber hadn’t set himself a “red-line”. Whoever advised him on that line must be fire ASAP. It makes for a great speech but dangerous in reality.
Today, Israel and their attack dog(US army) just launched two missiles into the Mediterranean sea. Tracked by Russia and others in the area.
I’m firm in my belief that Israel will be the reason for the destruction of America. Obama looks more and more like an amateur with no clue whatsoever!!!

Posted by: Zico | Sep 3 2013 11:17 utc | 19

lol..Israel launches missile into the Mediterranean sea and claims it was a joint US-Israeli exercise.
The US now comes out to reject the claim…Who’s fooling who???

Posted by: Zico | Sep 3 2013 11:30 utc | 20

first two results returned by http://search.yahoo.com, when queried with “Syrian Arab News Agency”:
http:/sana.sy/index_eng.html
http:/sana.sy
time to say goodbye to google?

Posted by: claudio | Sep 3 2013 11:44 utc | 21

Looks indeed that the google once again act with Obama to censor information! Shameless!

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 11:57 utc | 22

Human Rights Defense Organization held a press conference in Beirut yesterday to present and disclose massacres that took place in Lattakia countryside by the armed terrorist groups in August , with a testimony confirming terrorists use of toxic substances and chemical weapons .
The conference, which was advised to be convened by the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, included testimonies on the crimes committed by the terrorist groups and their violation of human values .
Abdul Hadi Shehadeh spoke about the massacres committed by the terrorists in Lattakia countryside , which claimed the lives of hundreds of martyrs and wounded and missing of 115 persons , including 68 children , 60 of them under the age of ten , presenting the case before humanitarian organizations and the international community .
Testimonies were given by poet Talal Salim, whose wife and children were kidnapped by the terrorist , Nawar Darwish who lost his family, Jadallah Qaddour and lawyer Thabet Darwish.
The conference coordinator , writer and researcher Nabil Fayyad, Chairman of the” Justice ” Party said that all strata of the Syrian civil society suffer from the Takfiri terrorist groups and the so-called al-Nusra Front , as these groups are committing massacres and crimes all over Syria, with the support of the countries responsible for shedding the Syrian blood .
Fayyad added : ” By the beginning of last month ( August) , hundreds of citizens were killed, kidnapped or missed in Lattakia countryside where they were subjected to the worst kinds of ethnic cleansing by terrorist groups, criticizing certain Lebanese parties which rejoice al-Nusra Front .
On the other hand , one man , Abu Omar , testified during the conference about chemical weapons used by armed terrorist groups , noting “I saw gallons of toxic substances and chemicals on which written “Made in Saudi Arabia ” and others made in Turkey,” pointing out that the militants were preparing to attack an airport near Damascus six days ago and that has the name of a place where the chemical weapons are existed .
Abu Omar expressed his willingness to go to New York and Geneva and any place in the world to give his testimony, asserting that he has all the evidence and arguments to that the so – called Free Syrian Army and the terrorist al-Nusra Front possess these chemical weapons.
Abu Omar said he does not want to give the name of the place and identifies the area, so as they will not remove the effects of chemical substances , specifically one of the factions of the so called free Syrian army and that he has reservations on anonymity because this faction exists only in that region.
In a speech during the conference , Rev. Maroun Thomas indicated the criminal acts committed by armed terrorist groups and the Takfiris against the Syrian people, with all their various components and against the minorities in particular , as well as the men of religion in acts of murder , kidnapping and violations of human values , warning that the militants are waiting to intensify their criminality when an aggression takes place on Syria.
Rev. Thomas stressed that the armed terrorist groups do not have any values , coexistence or openness to the other party and that they kill all the civilians on charges of blasphemy , calling on everyone to realize what is happening in Syria from our brothers in Lebanon and the world.
Worthy mentioning that the Syrian Human Rights Defense Organization covered the events of the massacres that took place in Lattakia countryside and sent its testified reports to Human Rights Commission in Geneva, which advised holding a press conference in order to shed more light on these massacres .
Lists of names of the martyrs and the kidnapped in the massacres that took place in Lattakia countryside were distributed in conclusion of the conference.
http://www.syriatimes.sy/index.php/news/local/7850-syrian-human-rights-organization-testimonies-on-lattakia-countryside-massacres

Posted by: brian | Sep 3 2013 12:37 utc | 23

americans are too stupid to realise they live in a dictatorship: they keep using WE when reffering to regime actions, as if they had a say

Posted by: brian | Sep 3 2013 12:38 utc | 24

I’m still shocked and appalled that D.C. had the intel 3 days before the CW attack (regardless of who did it) and didn’t warn or act on it. The most cynical use of intel I’ve ever seen, they kept it to themselves so they could justify an attack, unFingBelievable. And now there’s a defector who has the slam dunk evidence O wants, the timing is…….

Posted by: TikTok | Sep 3 2013 12:48 utc | 25

20) might have been Iranian

According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank that closely monitors Iran’s naval activities, the Fateh-class submarine displaces 600-tons and is capable of “firing large torpedoes, surface-to-surface missiles, and laying mines.” In the past Iranian officials have claimed that it will have both passive and active sonar, submarine-launched surface missiles, and a hydrogen-oxygen fuel-cell propulsion system, which is a leading technology used for air independent propulsion (AIP). This would make the Fateh submarine virtually silent and able to stay submerged for extended periods of time. This is a potentially harrowing prospect for U.S. naval planners given Iran’s strategic location atop the Strait of Hormuz.

Think about it – the Mediterranean full of military ships pretending not to know what a Russian radar has picked up – in the South of Russia?

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 12:50 utc | 26

@26
Ok, I thought about it
Then I remembered that the israelis already claimed responsibily for it, making your claim complete nonsense, as usual.

Posted by: hmm | Sep 3 2013 12:56 utc | 27

@hmm | 27
Imagine how funny it would be if Iran does missiles launch and Israel takes the credit for it 🙂

Posted by: Harry | Sep 3 2013 13:13 utc | 28

MSNBC has “corrected” the piece now. It is still under same URL and there is nothing mentioning a correction. The commentators at MSNBC are quite outraged. The crucial paragraph now reads:

In Syria, the religious dynamic is particularly acute as Assad–a secular Alawite, part of the Shiite branch of Islam–is under attack mostly from religious Sunni groups with varied interests and outside support. It is unknown which groups, if any, may be affiliated politically with elements in Saudi Arabia or the Gulf states.
If the U.S. administration knows more about the rebels, it isn’t sharing much with the public.

That last sentence is also stupid. The U.S. has said that a major part of the “rebels” are al-Qaeda.

Posted by: b | Sep 3 2013 13:17 utc | 29

@25 Well, to be fair, the US intelligence services may indeed have picked up plenty of chatter three days before the Syrian Army launched its artillery barrage
(I take it that nobody disputes that the Syrian army was firing artillery?).
And the USA may have thought nothing of it other than “Those whacky Syrians, they always chatter away like fishmonger’s wives when they are getting ready to fire their artillery”.
Or, put another way: that radio chatter may have been entirely real, but it may also have been entirely routine.
It may have meant nothing more than that the Syrian Army has no idea about radio discipline and, as such, their radio chatter have been something that the US military simply noted and then filed away as utterly unimportant.
The claim that this chatter “proves” that the Syrians were preparing a CW attack may therefore be an entirely post-hoc “assessment” i.e. it may represent nothing more than an attempt to dig up something – anything – to support Kerry’s otherwise utterly unsupported claim.
General: Whadda’ we got? We gotta’ have something??
Grunt: Errrr. Well…. there was a lotta’ radio chatter three days ago.
General: Bingo! That’s it! That’s what I’m looking for!
Grunt: But General….
General: What?
Grunt: The Syria Army chatters like a troop of baboons.
General: Who’s the General here, and who’s the Private?
Grunt: [Gulp] Yessir, Sir!

Posted by: Johnboy | Sep 3 2013 13:21 utc | 30

Somebody
Why do you refer ISW? A pro-israel/neocon Think-tank.

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 13:22 utc | 31

No problem, the twerking-obsessed American masses won’t even notice the difference. So if they can’t even distinguish who’s on which side in Syria’s civil war; how can they distinguish that this is not an imminent threat to the U.S., that they are again being played and therefore determine whether an attack on Syria is justified or not?
But Americans just can’t help their trigger-happy selves: WAR, WAR, WAR even if they’re starving. They work to pay for WAR while Halliburton, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon fill their coffers and Wall Street throw champagne and caviar parties.
Good thing the Russians sent reconnaissance ships to give the Syrian gov. a heads up on cruise missile launches, hopefully those missiles will target nothing and those billions of U.S. dollars will go up in smoke.
And if this leads to full-blown war and lots of marines die; their families can rest assured they died for a good cause on the side of Al Qaeda.
A million people were slaughtered in Rwanda in 1994 while Americans were tuning into Friends and Clinton was about to make the moves on Monica, but this civil war in Syria is so much more important in the American psyche–when they’re not obsessing over Hannah Montana’s transformation mind you!
America…keep on “thinking” – DUHHHHHHHH!

Posted by: kalithea | Sep 3 2013 13:24 utc | 32

@20 I have heard reports that the US Navy denied firing any missiles, but if this was a “joint anti-ballistic missile test” then the partners would have been the IDF and the USAF.
Has the USAF released a statement?
And the reports so far are vague e.g. stating that the “object” was launched (air-launched, I assume) from the Mediterranean Sea to the “Eastern Mediterranean”.
Hmm, does that mean it was pointed towards Israel, or was it heading towards Syria?

Posted by: Johnboy | Sep 3 2013 13:31 utc | 33

I quoted “the diplomat” which reference it is but you are right about the politics of the people who run it.
I did not check, did not think it relevent. Just wanted to underline it is a possibility which would make sense if they want to avoid war to show their abilities before something foolish happens.
The hard facts, that they have that capability, are unpolitical – I can also quote Press tv if you prefer that source.

Iran’s Navy submarines have returned home after they successfully conducted maritime surveillance operations and identified the warships of other countries in international waters.
The submarines, sailing alongside warships belong to the 14th fleet of the Iranian Navy, returned home on Monday following their nearly two-month-long mission in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, Fars News Agency reported.
Iranian submarines entered the waters of the Red Sea on June 7 and joined the 14th fleet of warships.
The deployment of Iranian military submarines in the Red Sea was the first such operation by the Iranian Navy in distant waters.
Iran has deployed warships in the Red Sea to combat Somali pirates.
Rampant piracy off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia has made the waters among the most dangerous in terms of pirate activities.
The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling annually between Asia, Europe and the Americas.
However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates on speedboats have prompted some of the world’s largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and reroute cargo vessels around southern Africa, leading to rising shipping cost

This here is a video from Press Tv

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 13:37 utc | 34

There is also this fun fact – from the NYT

Iran takes credit for thwarting pirate attack on us flagged vessel

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 13:42 utc | 35

Re: 34

I did not check, did not think it relevent. Just wanted to underline it is a possibility which would make sense if they want to avoid war to show their abilities before something foolish happens.

No, it is NOT “a possibility.”
Absolutely 100% NOT “a possibility”,
I’ll repeat it again: the
israelis already claimed responsibily for it, making your claim complete nonsense, as usual.

Posted by: hmm | Sep 3 2013 13:55 utc | 36

36) :-)) you believe what the Israelis are saying?

Posted by: somebody | Sep 3 2013 14:03 utc | 37

@34
In this instance, yes
It is what YOU are saying, not the Israelis, which is the matter under discussion. And in this particular instance what YOU are saying is proven false by the Israeli admission that they fired it
Credibility-wise, it’s a rather telling indictment of any person when it can be said of them that they clearly, demonstrably, have less credibilty than the Israelis, one of the least trustworthy nation states on the planet

Posted by: hmm | Sep 3 2013 14:18 utc | 38

Hilarious comment from MSNBC

Richard Wolffe commented 35 minutes ago
#18 NBC – Thanks for all your comments pointing out what was a major factual mistake. We screwed up badly and corrected the error above. We work hard every day to publish accurate stories and will continue to do so.

Translation :
“And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”
.

Posted by: hmm | Sep 3 2013 14:44 utc | 39

anon #5, that is interesting. and obama is headed to sweden today. do you happen to have a link about sweden’s testing via FOI?

Posted by: annie | Sep 3 2013 14:48 utc | 40

annie
Found this:
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2054&artikel=5634816

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 15:22 utc | 41

Here’s something the Chinese and Russians can do right now to help sabotage this Zionist planned war that the U.S. is about to launch against Syria: jam foreign satellites over Syria.

Posted by: kalithea | Sep 3 2013 15:52 utc | 42

That supposed defector that was to give a press conference in Turkey? The Syrian opposition has cancelled that planned press conference with chemical weapons official who it claimed was ready to announce his defection. He says Abdel Tawwab Shahrou is “head of medical services in Assad’s chemical warfare branch” and also “head of Aleppo forensics”.
Khalid Saleh, spokesman for the opposition Syrian National Coalition, said Abdel Tawwab Shahrou could not attend the event “due to security concerns” BUT
the avid Syria blogger Eliot Higgins, aka Brown Moses, points to reports that Shahrou was reported to have been kidnapped by insurgents two weeks ago. http://www.syriadirect.org/sas/12-news-roundup/714-syria-direct-news-update-8-19-2013

Posted by: TikTok | Sep 3 2013 15:56 utc | 43

Re #43: It’s Shahrour, not Shahrou. The Guardian, from where the above came, have somehow decided to spell his name wrong, but everybody else spells it Shahrour. To say he was head of a city forensics department and simultaneously head of medical services in the military’s CW branch is implausible right from the start. Most probably he is merely the former (head of a city forensics department), and thus relatively easy to kidnap like civilian functionaries in general, and the FSA have invented a story whereby he is head of medical services in the military’s CW branch, out of thin air. The kidnap/defection is fishy and needs explaining. Perhaps this man was kidnapped by the FSA and is suffering from so-called Stockholm Syndrome (identification with his captors) rather than at any point having voluntarily defected. And if he can’t be guaranteed safety at a press conference, why did the FSA call one? These people are just stupid.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 16:13 utc | 44

@ 43, 44
thing is they never have to actually produce this guy, since once the lie has gone out, that there is a defecting Syrian “scientist” willing to spill the beans on dastardly Assad and CW, it is THAT which will stick in the mind of the lumpen plebs.
The fact that he never appeared can disappear from the media’s radar completely and all that the Lumps will remember is that there was a “scientist” that had the goods on them latest Middle Eastern New Hitler™® (AIPAC registered Trademark), Assad

Posted by: hmm | Sep 3 2013 16:29 utc | 45

@45: ™®, very nice. You have a way with obscure characters from the recesses of the ASCII character set. I think you are over-estimating the importance of the plebs, or lumpen lumps as you call them. The only importance I can give them is an indirect one: if they are baying for military action, the congress critturs who vote for that can make some heroic speeches and feel more confident about their own re-election. But it’s well-known that the electorate doesn’t decide the outcome of elections, anyway, so it reduces merely to a bit of self-aggrandising theatre for the critturs. And maybe that’s enough.

Posted by: Rowan Berkeley | Sep 3 2013 16:36 utc | 46

I’ve been without my internet connection for awhile now and it’s terrible. I listen to news reports and discussions, unable to believe what I’m hearing…but don’t have ready access to MoonofAL, alas.
Amazingly, I have not heard one punster or expert, not one politician, and just one person calling in who said anything about why Obama is rushing to bomb/now to also get a new broad AUMF (no end date? Does no one learn anything from past legislative idiocies?). No one has said since time is not of the essence, why not simply wait for the UN investigators’ report? And, since the NSA vacuums up just about every digital communication in the world, the US will know even before the actual report is written what the results are and can then amend their lies/conclusions, eh?
I might accept this rush to attack if Obama promises to resign as president if it turns out that the US intel about the chem weapons attack is incorrect….
Heh.
But, as someone mentioned above, the discussion is no longer about who did it, whether the Syrian government is actually responsible, but is now on to how much damage to inflict.
McCain is pushing his “Bomb, bomb, bomb Syria” approach, backed by Lindsey Graham. Both men have no doubts whatsoever as to who is responsible — maybe Mc Cain helped his fave “rebels” to get the stuff and absolutely knows who done it?
Ack.

Posted by: jawbone | Sep 3 2013 16:57 utc | 47

thank you anon.

Posted by: annie | Sep 3 2013 18:16 utc | 48

Haha are you guys listening to the hearing? Its a bloody madhouse!

Posted by: Anonymous | Sep 3 2013 20:29 utc | 49

It is unknown which groups, if any, may be affiliated politically with elements in Shia-ruled Iran, Saudi Arabia or even Hezbollah in Lebanon.

We’ve always been at war with Eastasia!

Posted by: Petri Krohn | Sep 3 2013 23:36 utc | 50

yes: Don Baconn not withstanding, this is a war conceived in israel:
According to @elilake, both the White House and the Hill asked AIPAC its position on the Syria strikes http://thebea.st/18pSGzY
==============

Posted by: brian | Sep 3 2013 23:45 utc | 51

Back to Main