by Stephen Lendman

Current US direct and proxy wars aren't enough. Obama has more death and destruction in mind.

Confronting Russia recklessly on Ukraine. Risking East/West confrontation.

Possible nuclear war. Lunatics running things in Washington make the unthinkable possible.

Obama's Iraq and Syria wars rage. US special forces and CIA operatives directly involved.

On Thursday, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey considered sending US ground forces to Iraq. Accompanying Iraqi troops, he said.

Near Mosul. Iraq's Syria border. Anbar province. As advisers, he claims. Calling in air strikes. An idea he raised publicly in September.

A previous article addressed mission creep. In response to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel doubling the number of US special forces in Iraq. To around 3,100.

Obama's so-called "advise and assist mission" is a euphemism for deploying combat-ready personnel. Heading for another potential US quagmire.

Mission creep is well under way. Claiming a limited campaign is duplicitous on its face. Escalated conflict persists.

Air campaigns alone don't work. Expect multiple additional future deployments. Dempsey urged what he called "strategic patience."

As part of a "complex and longterm undertaking." Saying he's against "large military continent" deployments. Unless current US "assumptions are rendered invalid."

Including "inclusive" Shia/Sunni governance. An effective Iraqi fighting force. Nonexistent despite years of US training. Billions of dollars down a black hole.

A classified assessment said barely half its units were fit to be trained. Many infiltrated by Sunni and Shia militants.

Threatening US personnel training them. Similar to Afghan insider attacks.

Iraqi governance remains dysfunctional. Democracy is pure fantasy. None whatever exists. Ethnic/sectarian infighting persists.

Out-of-control violence continues daily. Punctuated by multiple car bombings. Death and destruction. A pattern showing no signs of ending.

America's intervention transformed the cradle of civilization into a dystopian nightmare. Nothing in prospect looks promising.

Same old, same old persists. Thousands of US ground troops won't change things. Certain to make horrific conditions worse.

New Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is a convenient US stooge. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Malaki wasn't stooge enough.

Thirteen years post-9/11, out-of-control violence replaced regional stability. Prospects ahead look worse, not better.

Open-ended wars rage. Naked aggression. Flagrantly violating international and constitutional laws. Presidents have no authority to spurn them.

No nation may intervene in the internal affairs of others. None may attack another except in self-defense.

None without Security Council authorization. None exits. Expect none forthcoming.

It doesn't matter. Obama unilaterally declared open-ended Middle East war. Threatening the entire region and beyond.

Endangering world peace, security and stability. Heading for direct intervention in Syria.

CNN saying he "asked his national security team for another review of the US policy toward Syria after realizing that ISIS may not be defeated without a political transition in Syria and the removal of President Bashar al-Assad."

A tacit admission of Obama's real intention. Targeting IS the pretext. Syria the target. Regime change the objective.

Senior US officials spoke to CNN "on condition of anonymity." Obama wants his Syria strategy reviewed.

Compounded "by the reality that to genuinely defeat ISIL, we need not only a defeat in Iraq but a defeat in Syria."

Replacing Assad with pro-Western stooge governance. Ongoing discussions include a "constant process of recalibration."

Code language for regime change. National Security Council spokesman Alistair Baskey saying:

"The strategy with respect to Syria has not changed. Assad has been the biggest magnet for extremism in Syria…"

Obama "made clear that Assad lost all legitimacy to govern. Alongside our efforts to isolate and sanction (his) regime, we are working with our allies to strengthen the moderate opposition…"

Code language for IS, Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, and other extremist groups. Recruited, armed, funded, trained and directed by US special forces and CIA operatives.

Sabotaging peaceful conflict resolution efforts. War without end persists.

Obama's top national security advisors arguing against current policy. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressing concerns.

Calling for "a sharper view of what to do about the

Assad regime." An unnamed official calling it "pretty clear for some time that supporting the (so-called) moderate opposition in the hopes of toppling Assad, isn't going to work."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest saying "a wide range of options" are being considered. "(T)o protect and defend American interests around the world."

Code language for escalated conflict. Likely US boots on the ground.

Sergey Lavrov repeatedly warns against direct US intervention in Syria without Security Council authorization.

A "grave violation of international law," he stresses. Syrians alone must decide who'll lead them.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich warned against continued unilateral US bombing.

Without coordinating strikes with Syria's government. He condemned new plans to train and arm so-called "moderate opposition" elements.

Virtually none exist. IS fighters and other extremist groups comprise US proxy forces.

"Russia considers combating terrorism a priority. So it supports Syria and pushes for the start of a dialogue among the Syrians themselves to find a political solution to the crisis in the country," Lukashevich said.

He expressed support for UN Special Envoy on Syria Staffan de Mistura's plan. Supporting national dialogue among Syrians.

Without preconditions. According to Geneva Communique terms. Syrians alone deciding their future.

Other nations, groups or elements having no say. Respecting Syrian sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.

Conflict resolution through diplomatic means. Excluding force in any form.

Washington consistently breaches conflict resolutions it endorses. Saying one thing. Doing another.

It's no surprise. Naked aggression is longstanding US policy. Bombs away reflects it. Prioritizing war in the name of peace.

Terrorism is what they do. Not us. At issue is plundering countries for profit. Controlling world resources. Exploiting people everywhere.

Mass slaughter, destruction and appalling human misery are small prices to pay.

No nation in world history caused more harm to more people over a longer duration.

A longstanding tradition. A sordid one. An abhorrent one. Ruthlessly giving no quarter. Means justifying ends.

Might over right. International, constitutional and US statute laws don't matter. Ignored with impunity.

The supreme law of the land deters no president from operating extrajudicially. Congress largely rubber-stamp.

Governance of men, not laws. Claiming otherwise is fantasy. Pure nonsense.

US officials lie, connive, misinterpret, circumvent laws, ignore them, and operate for their own self-interest.

"We the people" mattering most are wealthy, powerful, privileged elites. Indifferent to popular needs. Ignoring them entirely.

Reflecting how power corrupts. Absolute power doing it absolutely. Lurching from one war to another. Force-fed neoliberal harshness at home.

Washington's dirty hands dirtier than ever. Permanent war on humanity persists.

Wealth, power and unchallenged dominance alone matter. Full-blown tyranny if not stopped.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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