Hypocritical Righteousness on Syria

[marmar]

from Consortium News:


Hypocritical Righteousness on Syria
September 3, 2013

Secretary of State John Kerry waxed eloquent about the need to punish national leaders who violate international law. He meant Syria’s Bashar al-Assad but his lecture could have applied to American officials who enabled the invasion of Iraq, including himself, just one of many U.S. hypocrisies, as Lawrence Davidson notes.

By Lawrence Davidson


President Barack Obama sidestepped the political hole he had dug for himself (what we might call the “red line” hole) over his proposed attack on Syria. Having insisted there must be “consequences” for a breach of international law, specifically the alleged use of banned chemical weapons by the Syrian government, he was faced with both popular American reluctance to support military action and congressional pique over not being included in the decision process.

As a consequence President Obama announced on Aug. 31 that he now supports a congressional debate and vote on the issue of attacking Syria. Then he told us how he sees the situation, “This (Syrian chemical) attack is an assault on human dignity. … It risks making a mockery of the global prohibition on the use of chemical weapons. … Ultimately this is not about who occupies this (White House) office at any given time, it’s about who we are as a country.”

For all I know, the President really believes his own words, but I am pretty sure his implied question of “who we are as a country” is meant to be rhetorical. If one was to give an evidence-based answer to that inquiry, as it relates to chemical weapons, it would be embarrassing in the extreme.

Lest we forget, the U.S. defoliated parts of Vietnam with a chemical weapon called Agent Orange and by its use killed a lot more than large swaths of jungle. Agent Orange killed and maimed an estimated 400,000 Vietnamese and an estimated half a million children have subsequently been born deformed. It also did a fatal job on many of the American troops that handled the stuff. ..................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/09/03/hypocritical-righteousness-on-syria/

[JayhawkSD]

1. Not to mention...

...our refusal to sign treaties against the use of white phosphorous, landmines and cluster munitions, because we profit from the manufacture and sale of white phosphorous, landmines and cluster munitions.

Not to mention our widespread use of depleted uranium ammunition in urban areas.

[yurbud]

2. crucial perspective. I included it in my White House petition:

[font size=3]The US had no moral authority to punish Syria's war crimes while our own war criminals aren't prosecuted.
[/font]
The Bush administration committed far worse war crimes than Syria, including starting a war of aggression against Iraq, using torture, the chemical weapon white phosphorus, the radiological weapon depleted uranium, and attempting to restructure Iraq's economy for the benefit of oil companies and Wall Street, not to mention a million Iraqis killed.

Further, Syria could never be a threat to us, given our massive and well-known nuclear arsenal to retaliate.

It is also doubtful that the stated justifications for the military attack are the actual reason, given the bipartisan support for brutal and oppressive regimes that serve business interests who donate to both parties.

Do not attack Syria, but instead, explain publicly who is demanding this attack and what they expect to gain from it.

http://wh.gov/l4Yyw

[polly7]

3. +1. nt.

[blkmusclmachine]

4. LIES U CAN BELIEVE IN