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To War or Not to War
by Stephen Lendman
Will Obama wage more wars or won't he? He's already fighting multiple direct and proxy ones. November elections approach. Electoral priorities dictate policy.
On the one hand, Americans are fed up with wars. More risks offending supporters who want current ones ended. Holding back gives Republicans a campaign issue. Acting tough against alleged enemies sometimes sells well. Smart money says not now.
Doing the right thing doesn't matter. Imperial priorities take precedence. Odds favor full-scale Syrian intervention. Timing alone remains unknown. Consequences can wait for later. Will Iran be next?
On August 3, Haaretz headlined "Netanyahu: If Israel attacks Iran, I will take responsibility for the consequences," saying:
He criticized Israeli security officials for suggesting they're concerned about taking responsibility for agreeing.
The Two Faces of a Police State: Sheltering Tax Evaders, Financial Swindlers and Money Launderers while Policing the Citizens
James Petras
“There is a degree of cynicism and greed which is really quite shocking” - Lord Turner Bank of England, Financial Service Authority, “The rotten heart of finance” The Economist
Introduction
Never in the history of the United States have we witnessed crimes committed on the scale and scope of the present day by both private and state elites.
An economist of impeccable credentials, James Henry, former chief economist at the prestigious consulting firm McKinsey & Company, has researched and documented tax evasion. He found that the super-wealthy and their families have as much as $32 trillion (USD) of hidden assets in offshore tax havens, representing up to $280 billion in lost income tax revenue! This study excluded such non-financial assets as real estate, precious metals, jewels, yachts, race horses, luxury vehicles and so on. Of the $32 trillion in hidden assets, $23 trillion is held by the super-rich of North America and Europe.
Targeting Chavez
by Stephen Lendman
Since taking office in February 1999, Chavez has been Washington's number one Latin American enemy.
He worries US officials for good reason. He's a powerful threat. He represents a good example. Venezuela's social democracy shames America's. Bolivarianism works.
So does its political system. Elections are open, free and fair. US electoral politics lack legitimacy. Democracy is moribund. Candidates are pre-selected. Big money owns them. Key outcomes are predetermined. Duopoly power runs everything.
On October 7, Venezuelans again head to the polls. Chavez seeks reelection. He remains overwhelmingly popular. Washington dreads the idea of having him around for another six years.
Day of Infamy at General Assembly
by Stephen Lendman
On August 3, The General Assembly ignored rule of law principles. Member states are sworn to uphold them.
It passed a non-binding Syrian resolution 133 - 12. Thirty-one nations abstained. Cowardice defines their failure to do the right thing.
Saudi Arabia drafted the measure. It partnered with Qatar and perhaps Bahrain doing so. They're regional axis of evil co-conspirators. Compared to them, Assad is saintly.
Russia called the measure "biased and unbalanced." It was that and much more. It ignored reality on the ground. It ran cover for Washington's proxy war.
It endorsed daily slaughter and destruction. It ignored Western/Arab League/Israeli responsibility for ravaging another nonbelligerent country. It spurned millions of Syrians.
Mad Dog Leaders Threaten Humanity
by Stephen Lendman
A common thread defines Obama and Netanyahu. Their agenda threatens humanity. Both head modern-day Spartas.
Israel is very much involved in Washington's war on Syria. At issue is destroying another independent state, murdering thousands, planning more wars, and threatening the entire region and beyond.
Iran is next in line. Saber rattling combines with war by other means. It includes sanctions, subversion, instability, cyberwar, targeted assassinations, other disruptive actions, and relentless scoundrel media vilification and fearmongering.
Ordinary citizens: the silent victims of anti-Iranian sanctions
Kourosh Ziabari
While the United States and European Union are vehemently competing with each other in the seemingly endless race of imposing sanctions on Iran, the ordinary Iranian citizens are experiencing the most breathtaking, agonizing impacts of the crippling embargoes.
On July 31, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) sent a letter to all members of the U.S. Congress, demanding a concerted action to approve The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act which imposes a new set of sanctions on Iran's energy and transportation sector.
On August 1, the media reported that the Congress has ratified the bill and it's waiting to be signed by the president.
The Austerity Hoax
by Stephen Lendman
Since 2008, Western nations have force-fed their people austerity poison. Decline replaces prosperity. Millions suffer. Living standards deteriorate. Societies become no longer fit to live in.
Neoliberal and imperial priorities let essential public needs go begging. How much more people will take before erupting remains to be seen.
The longer fiscal pain continues, the closer an ultimate day of reckoning approaches. It'll arrive disruptively. Perhaps people will recognize that throwing out bums for new ones accomplishes nothing.
Remembering Gore Vidal
by Stephen Lendman
Many labels characterize him: distinguished author, essayist, playwright, historian, acerbic sociopolitical/cultural critic, freethinker, intellectual, and humanist.
In 2009, the American Humanist Association (AHA) named him honorary president.
On July 31, Gore Vidal died from complications of pneumonia at his Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles home.
He was 86. He'll be missed. Los Angeles Times writer Elaine Woo called him a "gadfly on the national conscience" and "literary juggernaut." He was that and much more.
New York Times writer Charles McGrath said he was "an Augustan figure who believed himself to be the last of a breed, and he was probably right. Few American writers have been more versatile or gotten more mileage from their talent."
He’s blind to the “bleedin’ obvious” economic consequence of military occupation, Is Romney just a pretty face then?
Stuart Littlewood
Mitt Romney is listed among People magazine's 50 “most beautiful” of 2002. He was up there with Nicole Kidman, Britney Spears and Julia Roberts. But how pretty does he look in 2012?
This US presidential hopeful from AIPAC’s Republican wing came here to England and put his foot in it by questioning Britain‘s readiness to host the Olympics. We were already on the case, thank-you Mr Romney. But please remember that it’s largely America’s misbehaviour around the world that puts such a colossal strain on Olympic security and makes other nations’ teams so nervous.
His remarks drew some sharp responses, and thus began a series of “mis-steps” that characterized the presidential candidate’s misadventure into the wider world and culminated in an unforgettable “kiss my ass” invitation by one of his campaign aides. Mis-steps is a curiously polite US word that seems to be gaining currency here. It conjures up the erratic progress of a stumblebum.
No surprise that while in London he met with the Quartet’s zio-stooge Tony Blair to have his mind further poisoned and confused.
Mr. President, Focus here, not over there
By Michael Collins
The United States of America is struggling with economic problems that leading economists call a depression. When you count all of those without jobs seeking one, unemployment is 22%. That figure defines a serious crisis. While we wait for the Obama administration to do something for the people, we can be comforted to know that the president is wasting his time meddling in Syria by supporting rebels who count al Qaeda among their comrades. This was all a secret until Reuters told us about it yesterday. (Image)
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, sources familiar with the matter said.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government. Reuters, August 1 (Alternate link)
The term intelligence finding used to describe Obama's action on Syria is a neologism. The more accurate term is stupidity finding. Why?
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