by Stephen Lendman

Permanent war is official US policy. Throughout his tenure, Obama waged multiple direct and proxy wars.

He's heading for direct intervention against Syria. He's doing it lawlessly. He's doing it based on lies, damn lies and Big Lies.

They launch all wars. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. Truth is the ally of peace. It's the enemy of war. It matters most. It's journalism's first casualty.

On September 5, AP headlined "Russia's Putin calls John Kerry a liar on Syria," saying:

He addressed his human rights council. He recalled watching Tuesday's congressional debate. Kerry was asked about Al Qaeda. He denied it was operating in Syria.

"This was very unpleasant and surprising to me," said Putin. "We talk to (the Americans) and we assume they are decent people, but (Kerry) is lying and he knows he is lying. This is sad."

"The Syrian rebels' main combat unit is the so-called Al-Nusra, an Al Qaeda unit," said Putin. America is "aware of that."

Congressional members have no authority to order attacks on Syria, he added.

"What are they sanctioning? They're sanctioning aggression, because anything outside the UN Security Council framework is aggression, except for self-defense."

"But, as we know, Syria is not attacking the US, so this isn't about defense. This is inadmissible in principle."

"Why (do Kerry and others) say that not a single US soldier will appear in Syria?"

"Because they think this is unnecessary, that those militants will cope on their own."

"What they need is support by means and equipment. They don't have planes (or) missile equipment."

This should be given to them (Americans say). Well, they'll get it, right now," said Putin.

He strongly disputes US claims that Syria used chemical weapons. He called them "absolute nonsense."

"Even in the US there are experts who question the reliability of the facts presented by the administration," he said.

"These experts do not exclude the possibility that the Syrian opposition has conducted a pre-planned provocation in order to give their sponsors a reason for military intervention."

On Tuesday, Senate Foreign Relations Committee members asked Kerry if Al Qaeda infiltrated Syria's opposition. That's "basically incorrect," he said.

Insurgents have "increasingly become more defined by (their) moderation," he claimed.

When asked if America attacking Syria would strengthen extremist elements, he said:

"No, I don't believe (so). As a matter of fact, I think you actually make the (moderate) opposition stronger. And (it's) getting stronger by the day now."

Kerry disagreed with claims that "a majority of (opposition fighters) are Al Qaeda and (other) bad guys."

He said they comprise 15 - 25% at most. He lied saying so. Al Qaeda, Al Nusra and other extremist elements comprise the great majority of anti-Syrian forces.

They're Western-enlisted, armed, funded, trained and directed. They're imported from dozens of countries. CIA, US special forces and Pentagon contractors are directly involved.

Kerry knows. He lied claiming otherwise. Putin forthrightly called him out. He strongly opposes Obama's planned war.

Attacking Syria without Security Council authorization is lawless aggression, he said. Congress has no authority to circumvent international law.

Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, it's automatically US law. Violating it constitutes a high crime against peace. It's the supreme crime. It exceeds all others.

On Wednesday, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel added insult to injury. He said Russia supplied Syria with chemical weapons. He lied claiming it. He knew he lied. He lied anyway.

He told House Foreign Affairs Committee members:

"The Russians supply them. Others are supplying them with those chemical weapons. They make some themselves." He didn't elaborate.

Pentagon damage control followed. Spokesman George Little said:

"In a response to a member of Congress, Secretary Hagel was referring to the well-known conventional arms relationship between Syria and Russia."

Little called Syria's chemical weapons program "largely indigenous." At the same time, he claimed:

Russian supplied military equipment can "be modified or otherwise used to support (Syria's) chemical weapons program." He didn't elaborate. He in part repeated Hagel's Big Lie.

Russia provides Syria with conventional weapons. Nothing sold contravenes international law.

Igor Korotchenko is a Russian Defense Ministry public council member. He's National Defense magazine chief editor. He responded to Hagel, saying:

"The Pentagon chief's statement is a blatant lie like the notorious test tube with anthrax from the arsenal of Saddam Hussein that then-US Secretary of State Colin Powell was shaking in the Security Council."

"The United States has powerful and effective special services, and Hagel could have turned to them to obtain comprehensive information that the Russian Federation has never supplied weapons of mass destruction to anyone, even its closest allies."

Senate Joint Resolution Authorizing Limited/Tailored Use of Force Against Syria

It's malicious. It's full of Big Lies. In part it states:

"Whereas Syria is in material breach of the laws of war by having employed chemical weapons against its civilian population;

Whereas the abuses of the regime of Bashar al-Assad have included the brutal repression and war upon its own civilian population, resulting in more than 100,000 people killed in the past two years, and more than 2 million internally displaced people and Syrian refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq, creating an unprecedented regional crisis and instability;

Whereas the Assad regime has the largest chemical weapons programs in the region and has demonstrated its capability and willingness to repeatedly use weapons of mass destruction against its own people, including the August 21, 2013 attack in the suburbs of Damascus in which the Assad regime murdered over 1,000 innocent people, including hundreds of children;

Whereas there is clear and compelling evidence of the direct involvement of Assad regime forces and senior officials in the planning, execution, and after-action attempts to cover-up the August 21 attack, and hide or destroy evidence of such attack;

Whereas the actions and conduct of the Assad regime are in direct contravention of Syria’s legal obligations under the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Geneva Protocol to the Hague Convention on the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, and also violates standards set forth in the Chemical Weapons Convention;

Whereas Syria’s use of weapons of mass destruction and its conduct and actions constitute a grave threat to regional stability, world peace, and the national security interests of the United States and its allies and partners;

Whereas the objectives of the United States use of military force in connection with this authorization are to respond to the use, and deter and degrade the potential future use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government;

Whereas the President has authority under the Constitution to use force in order to defend the national security interests of the United States:

Now, therefore, be it,

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This joint resolution may be cited as the 'Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against the Government of Syria to Respond to Use of Chemical Weapons.'

SECTION 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

(a) AUTHORIZATION-The President is authorized, subject to subsection (b), to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in a limited and tailored manner against legitimate military targets in Syria, only to: (1) respond to the use of weapons of mass destruction by the Syrian government in the conflict in Syria; (2) deter Syria's use of such weapons in order to protect the national security interests of the United States and to protect our allies and partners against the use of such weapons; and (3) degrade Syria’s capacity to use such weapons in the future.

SECTION 3. LIMITATION. The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations.

SECTION 4. TERMINATION OF THE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE USE OF UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES.

The authorization in section 2(a) shall terminate 60 days after the date of the enactment of this joint resolution, except that the President may extend, for a single period of 30 days, such authorization.

SECTION 7. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. The authority set forth in Section 2 of this resolution shall not constitute an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war except to the extent that it authorizes military action under the conditions, for the specific purposes, and for the limited period of time set forth in this resolution.

NOTE:

Attacking Syria up to 90 days constitutes war. It's lawless aggression. Claiming otherwise doesn't wash.

Congress has no authority to circumvent international, constitutional or US statute laws. Doing so constitutes a high crime against peace.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee members voting yea are guilty of planned war crimes.

Syria doesn't threaten America. It never did. It doesn't now. War authorization claims are lies. Senate members know it. They lied anyway.

America and Israel alone threaten world peace. They're out-of-control rogue powers. They operate extrajudicially. They defend the indefensible.

They threaten mass killing and destruction. They're partnered against Syria. They target Iran next. They want Lebanon's independent government destroyed.

Israel wants unchallenged regional dominance. America wants it globally.

John Kerry didn't rule out using ground forces against Syria. US special forces and CIA already operate there covertly.

On September 3, Yahoo!News headlined "Kerry opens door to US ground troops in Syria," saying:

He "opened the door Tuesday to sending American troops into Syria if Bashar Assad's regime collapses and al-Qaida-linked extremist groups stand to get their hands on his chemical weapons."

"In the event Syria imploded, for instance, or in the event there was a threat of a chemical weapons cache falling into the hands of al-Nusra or someone else, and it was clearly in the interest of our allies - and all of us, the British, the French and others to prevent those weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of the worst elements," said Kerry

"I don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available to the president of the United States to secure our country."

In other words, Obama intends using all means to topple Assad. Regime change was planned years ago. War is America's option of choice.

Peace was long ago ruled out. So was resolving US/Syrian differences diplomatically.

Syria's been lawlessly ravaged since March 2011. Obama wants it entirely destroyed. He wants pro-Western puppet governance installed.

He wants Iran isolated. He wants longstanding regime change plans implemented against the Islamic Republic.

He wants full-scale war on humanity. He may end up destroying it altogether. Stopping him matters most. Whatever it takes!

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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