Trump Invades Syria, Commits Illegal War Crimes

Submitted by Big Al on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 5:02pm

syria war_1.png

Trump, the 27% President, has sent regular combat troops to Syria, without congressional approval, without U.N. approval, and without the approval of the elected government of Syria. That's something Obama didn't do, although Obama did send special forces as "advisors". Evidently they're sending anywhere from 300-500 combat Marines and Rangers depending on what you read. Various voices from the Pentagon and the Trump administration are signaling the possibility of sending even more troops to Syria and to Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?)

"The deployment marks a new escalation in the U.S. war in Syria, and puts more conventional U.S. troops in the battle. Several hundred Special Operations troops have advised local forces there for months, but the Pentagon has mostly shied away from using conventional forces in Syria. The new mission comes as the Trump administration weighs a plan to help Syrian rebels take back Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Islamic State. The plan also includes more Special Operations troops and attack helicopters."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/03/08/marines-hav...

This is an escalation of U.S. involvement in the imperialist war in Syria. We got these new cats in the House and they want to get their hands bloodied, show how tough they are, and finish the job Obama couldn't, get rid of Assad and break apart Syria.

"The United States is making a military bid for a very large chunk of sovereign Syrian territory. Something even Obama with his extraordinarily reckless Middle East policy would not dare to do."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-invades-syria/5578671

This is significant news and further evidence Trump and his warmonger staff are following the U.S. global hegemony script. Combined with the trashing of Russia by Trump's U.N. Ambassador, Nikki "I'm a Warmonger Too" Haley, and his hiring of Fiona "I Fucking Hate Putin" Hill to his national security team, this ratchets up pressure with Russia. Not to mention his new anti-Russia National Security Advisor, General McMaster. Russia is fighting in Syria legally, with the permission of the Syrian government.

Additionally,

"U.S. President Donald Trump's administration is weighing a deployment of up to 1,000 American soldiers to Kuwait to serve as a reserve force in the fight against Islamic State as U.S.-backed fighters accelerate the offensive in Syria and Iraq, U.S. officials told Reuters."

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-may-send-up-to-1000-troops-to-kuwai...

Tags:

Syria War

regime change

Imperialism

Antiwar

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Comments

Submitted by Big Al on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 6:25pm

The reason why I added "illegal war crimes" to the title

and talk about that a lot is because it drives me nutso that practically no one else talks about that except a few alternative writers and blogs. In this case, it doesn't matter whether Trump supporters or others think Trump and his regime are actually going after ISIS, which they are not, what he and they are doing is illegal, against international law and the U.S.S. Constitution. The justification is also based on lies, i.e., 9/11.

In the mainstream corporate media, they treat it matter of factly without telling their brainwashed readers the truth.

Submitted by Ellen North on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 12:55am

@Big Al

@Big Al

And thank you very much for doing this! ~~Somebody~~ everybody has to counter the propaganda and let the public know some of what's actually being done to and against them and the rest of the world!

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 6:35pm

How I wish Soldiers could strike.

I mean, they're an all-volunteer Army, right?

That's what they keep telling us.
How I wish a Bonus Army Situation would arise.

Course, a military unit on strike is called a Mutiny, and they shoot em for it. Which is Ironic considering that if soldiers did go on strike they wouldn't have access to their munitions, because those are locked up nice and tight stateside (Unless of course you're an officer, but they're practically politicans now)... a point the politicians would ignore while calling for the soldier's heads.

Honestly, a Mutiny sounds like a great freaking idea, and If I was to be deployed and didn't have my kids I'd be doing what I could to start one. Course that makes you a man without a country...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoZsgNHquM]

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Big Al on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 6:46pm

Veterans.

@detroitmechworks If enough vets could get together to start a challenge to U.S. imperialism, it could expand to the regular forces, like during the Vietnam war.
I proposed some time ago an alliance between Native Americans and Vets to start a movement. Not of course limited to just them, but as a start.
The two groups in this country that might have enough overall cred to get something going.

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 7:31pm

At this point, I'm with you.

@Big Al Not that I can do much in Portland. I'm having trouble walking long distances nowadays, and my rent just went up...

But I loathe war, and am willing to be a keyboard activist as hard as I can be.

We cannot continue the war without end, forever and ever, amen...

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by snoopydawg on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 7:59pm

Do any of the troops even know what or why they are fighting

@Big Al
in Syria or are they just following orders?
From what I have read, the reasons why Assad needs to be removed is two fold.
One is to make Israel the only superpower in the Middle East and
two is because Assad told Saudi Arabia and Qatar that they couldn't build their pipelines in Syria.
The Saudis told Kerry that they would pay for the military to overthrow Assad if our government supplied the troops. Sorry for not having a link to the article that supports this. I'll look for it.
Obama and his Secretaries of State sat back and watched as ISIS continued to grow because they thought that they would help remove Assad.
And then there's the CIA's rebels and the pentagon's rebels fighting each other's groups.
And then there's the Saudi's and other country's rebels fighting the other group's rebels and I don't know who is fighting the Syrian army.
The clusterfuck over there is hard to keep track of.
Then there's our military arming, funding and fighting alongside Al Qaida which they fought against during the Iraq war. And many have said that they aren't going to give the rebels weapons because down the road they are going to be fighting them again but next time they will have American weapons.
People here at home have no idea what is happening but think that it would be okay if we just nuked the damn lot of them including their families.
Trillions have been spent on the war on terror in the last 15 years and there are more terrorists now than when it started.
Then throw in the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine and the upcoming war with Russia and troops being back in Iraq plus all the countries that they are using drones in .
There aren't enough people in the military so they are using mercenaries that cost even more money
So of course there isn't enough money for anything here to help the people in this country.
Good gawd, I'm so sick of reading about how many innocent people are killed or had to flee their countries because sick people are making bad decisions.
Anyone who votes to use the military to go into another country should have to have some of their families participate. Bring the draft back and anyone who votes for the wars will have to send someone from their families to go and fight in them.

—

Scientists are concerned that conspiracy theories may die out if they keep coming true at the current alarming rate.

Submitted by Big Al on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:40pm

I'm not sure what the real truth knowledge level is among

@snoopydawg the troops now snoopydawg. I'd guess it's higher than in the past, but maybe not, it doesn't appear to be in the general public.

Relative to why they're in Syria, you nailed a few of the reasons. One aspect mentioned from the beginning is "the road to Tehran is thru Damascus", i.e., they wanted to take down Syria to weaken Iran (and Russia) and set the stage to go after that government and country. The Trump regime obviously has Iran on their agenda and now they're upping things in Syria. Could be the same connection.

#2.1 in Syria or are they just following orders? From what I have read, the reasons why Assad needs to be removed is two fold. One is to make Israel the only superpower in the Middle East and two is because Assad told Saudi Arabia and Qatar that they couldn't build their pipelines in Syria. The Saudis told Kerry that they would pay for the military to overthrow Assad if our government supplied the troops. Sorry for not having a link to the article that supports this. I'll look for it. Obama and his Secretaries of State sat back and watched as ISIS continued to grow because they thought that they would help remove Assad. And then there's the CIA's rebels and the pentagon's rebels fighting each other's groups. And then there's the Saudi's and other country's rebels fighting the other group's rebels and I don't know who is fighting the Syrian army. The clusterfuck over there is hard to keep track of. Then there's our military arming, funding and fighting alongside Al Qaida which they fought against during the Iraq war. And many have said that they aren't going to give the rebels weapons because down the road they are going to be fighting them again but next time they will have American weapons. People here at home have no idea what is happening but think that it would be okay if we just nuked the damn lot of them including their families. Trillions have been spent on the war on terror in the last 15 years and there are more terrorists now than when it started. Then throw in the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine and the upcoming war with Russia and troops being back in Iraq plus all the countries that they are using drones in . There aren't enough people in the military so they are using mercenaries that cost even more money So of course there isn't enough money for anything here to help the people in this country. Good gawd, I'm so sick of reading about how many innocent people are killed or had to flee their countries because sick people are making bad decisions. Anyone who votes to use the military to go into another country should have to have some of their families participate. Bring the draft back and anyone who votes for the wars will have to send someone from their families to go and fight in them.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 12:46am

the draft

@snoopydawg

Bring the draft back and anyone who votes for the wars will have to send someone from their families to go and fight in them.

This is the only form in which I support any sort of military draft.

I and mine worked far too damn hard to get it abolished during the Vietnam days. The draft is slavery, pure and simple. And that goes double for today's de-facto draft, enforced via economic means rather than legal ones. Anyone who thinks we really have a "volunteer" military needs his head examined. Virtually all of the enlisted rank population are there because they can't get a job which would support a family straight out of high school.

One other modification I would insist on: The "family members" sent to fight, in the event of any wars of choice, must include the actual biological persons who voted in favor of the wars. Proxies from the family members just won't have the required impact on some of these bloodthirsty bastards. They themselves need to go and get shot at. And I mean as common service members, not officers or NCOs. (I'm thinking about John McCain here, among others.)

Do this and watch how fast we get the non-interventionist foreign policy we 99%ers have been demanding for decades!

#2.1 in Syria or are they just following orders? From what I have read, the reasons why Assad needs to be removed is two fold. One is to make Israel the only superpower in the Middle East and two is because Assad told Saudi Arabia and Qatar that they couldn't build their pipelines in Syria. The Saudis told Kerry that they would pay for the military to overthrow Assad if our government supplied the troops. Sorry for not having a link to the article that supports this. I'll look for it. Obama and his Secretaries of State sat back and watched as ISIS continued to grow because they thought that they would help remove Assad. And then there's the CIA's rebels and the pentagon's rebels fighting each other's groups. And then there's the Saudi's and other country's rebels fighting the other group's rebels and I don't know who is fighting the Syrian army. The clusterfuck over there is hard to keep track of. Then there's our military arming, funding and fighting alongside Al Qaida which they fought against during the Iraq war. And many have said that they aren't going to give the rebels weapons because down the road they are going to be fighting them again but next time they will have American weapons. People here at home have no idea what is happening but think that it would be okay if we just nuked the damn lot of them including their families. Trillions have been spent on the war on terror in the last 15 years and there are more terrorists now than when it started. Then throw in the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine and the upcoming war with Russia and troops being back in Iraq plus all the countries that they are using drones in . There aren't enough people in the military so they are using mercenaries that cost even more money So of course there isn't enough money for anything here to help the people in this country. Good gawd, I'm so sick of reading about how many innocent people are killed or had to flee their countries because sick people are making bad decisions. Anyone who votes to use the military to go into another country should have to have some of their families participate. Bring the draft back and anyone who votes for the wars will have to send someone from their families to go and fight in them.

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by Ellen North on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 1:01am

@thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

... One other modification I would insist on: The "family members" sent to fight, in the event of any wars of choice, must include the actual biological persons who voted in favor of the wars. Proxies from the family members just won't have the required impact on some of these bloodthirsty bastards. They themselves need to go and get shot at. And I mean as common service members, not officers or NCOs. (I'm thinking about John McCain here, among others.)

Thanks! Saved me writing something of the sort - only not half as well and with more swearing.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 1:33am

Thank you, Ellen!

@Ellen North

Thanks! Saved me writing something of the sort - only not half as well and with more swearing.

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by Wink on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 2:03am

Sadly, The Draft is

@thanatokephaloides @thanatokephaloides
the Only action "We the People" can use to stop wars from running forever. Without a Draft most people - over 90% - don't give a damn how many wars we're fighting or how long they last. One, they aren't fighting them. Some kid in Georgia or SC is fighting it. Two, their kid isn't fighting it. Again, some kid in GA or SC is fighting it. And, three, nobody they know is fighting it. Unless they live in GA or SC. Since, no one they know is fighting it, just a bunch of volunteers that signed up to fight it, They Don't Give a Damn About The War / Wars. Couldn't care less.
Ahh, but their kid coming up on their 18th birthday, facing a Draft? That gets their attention. Hell, my Bro-in-Law, an Army Officer veteran, has already said he'll do everything to keep his now-16 year old kid out of Dubya's War, no friggin' way his kid is fighting it! Him already paying attention Without a Draft! With a Draft? The War is front and center on the 6:30 News. And after 15 years? They're in the streets with anti-war signs, out to end it before their kid straps on an M-16.
So, sad as it is, I'm All For bringing back the Draft. It ends war(s) sooner rather than later. And, informs an otherwise couldn't give a fuck public.

—

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 12:17pm

the 6 o'clock news

@Wink

Sadly, The Draft is the Only action "We the People" can use to stop wars from running forever. Without a Draft most people - over 90% - don't give a damn how many wars we're fighting or how long they last.

Whether or not "most people - over 90% - don't give a damn how many wars we're fighting or how long they last" has little or nothing to do with whether or not we have a draft.

It has to to -- exclusively -- with whether or not we have real journalism in the country. We had it during Vietnam. Result: even those without children of military age, even those without children at all, gave a damn about the war.

Unfortunately, the MIC learned their lesson here. Independent war journalism is now dead. What we now get on the 6 o'clock news is so sanitized of war news that most Americans don't even know we are at war, as you correctly point out. But restoring the warmongers' wet dream of a military draft won't change that. Only breakup of the media monopolies and restoration of genuinely independent war reporting can.

And I have no utter idea how we're going to do the latter, other than to start at the former. Just eliminating the media monopolies won't, by itself, restore the kind of real independent journalism which eventually got us out of Vietnam. But I assure you that nothing else, the draft included, can do so as long as six megacorporations own almost every media outlet in this country.

I really do miss my old shortwave radio these days......

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by Wink on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 4:49pm

The Warmongers - the MIC -

@thanatokephaloides @thanatokephaloides
does not want a Draft. They Do Not Want a Draft. An "All Volunteer Army" that they can send anywhere and everywhere is their bestest wet dream, and they've been cumming for 40 years. Yes, granted, an actual Press that gave a flying fuck about covering war(s) would (and does) help "bring the war home" to Americans that otherwise couldn't care less. Which is why They (MIC) ended that practice, too. Free from Media coverage they can run the war(s) any damn way the please! And do.
No Draft and no Media is the perfect wet dream, leaving the MIC to masturbate dreamily over current wars and even more so just thinking about future wars they can't wait to execute with the latest kill toys.
The Draft is the only action we have to slow that down as America's sons march off to the next "conflict" or "threat to national security," with parents like my Bro-In-Law out there actively protesting if not actively looking for ways to bring their boys home sooner rather than later.

[Edit] Oh, and I should point out that I was drafted during Vietnam - number 37 - and actively protested the war (and Draft) Before taking the oath and strapping on the uniform. If I could think of a better way to end wars than bringing back the Draft I would support that, but I truly believe it to be the Only way to end the MIC Monopoly on warfare. The Draft brings citizenry to the battlefield - something the MIC does not want - and about the Only instrument that does that.

—

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 2:25am

"REGISTER: It’s What a Man’s Got to Do." Papers please?

@thanatokephaloides Thanks a lot, "I and mine worked far too damn hard to get it abolished during the Vietnam days." Right on brother, I know many who benefited from that work. Peace.

I wish we could ditch the Selective Service System altogether, and starve the warmongers for a change. Withhold the fodder and let them suffer without soldiers, but then more robots I guess, cycle of violence continues. The only way to stop it is to stop it. Every one. Preferably all at once. heh

Fuck that shit.

Submitted by thanatokephaloides on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 12:21pm

working against the draft

@eyo

Thanks a lot, "I and mine worked far too damn hard to get it abolished during the Vietnam days." Right on brother, I know many who benefited from that work.

Myself included!

My first anti-Vietnam War protest was at the ripe old age of seven! And I only evaded the Vietnam era draft by three years. I had friends two years older than me who had to register and three years my senior who were actually drafted.

And Peace be upon you as well!

—

"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Submitted by Linda Wood on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 5:31pm

AMEN!

@thanatokephaloides

Submitted by SnappleBC on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 1:23am

My son was deployed to Afghanistan

@snoopydawg While he was there, I asked him what, in general terms, we were doing over there. He answered, "As near as I can tell, we're protecting poppy fields."

He's a very bright man and he was in intelligence. He knew more than most but apparently the actual purpose and mission was inscrutable to him.

On the bright side, he at least knew where he was.

#2.1 in Syria or are they just following orders? From what I have read, the reasons why Assad needs to be removed is two fold. One is to make Israel the only superpower in the Middle East and two is because Assad told Saudi Arabia and Qatar that they couldn't build their pipelines in Syria. The Saudis told Kerry that they would pay for the military to overthrow Assad if our government supplied the troops. Sorry for not having a link to the article that supports this. I'll look for it. Obama and his Secretaries of State sat back and watched as ISIS continued to grow because they thought that they would help remove Assad. And then there's the CIA's rebels and the pentagon's rebels fighting each other's groups. And then there's the Saudi's and other country's rebels fighting the other group's rebels and I don't know who is fighting the Syrian army. The clusterfuck over there is hard to keep track of. Then there's our military arming, funding and fighting alongside Al Qaida which they fought against during the Iraq war. And many have said that they aren't going to give the rebels weapons because down the road they are going to be fighting them again but next time they will have American weapons. People here at home have no idea what is happening but think that it would be okay if we just nuked the damn lot of them including their families. Trillions have been spent on the war on terror in the last 15 years and there are more terrorists now than when it started. Then throw in the wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine and the upcoming war with Russia and troops being back in Iraq plus all the countries that they are using drones in . There aren't enough people in the military so they are using mercenaries that cost even more money So of course there isn't enough money for anything here to help the people in this country. Good gawd, I'm so sick of reading about how many innocent people are killed or had to flee their countries because sick people are making bad decisions. Anyone who votes to use the military to go into another country should have to have some of their families participate. Bring the draft back and anyone who votes for the wars will have to send someone from their families to go and fight in them.

—

A lot of wanderers in the U.S. political desert recognize that all the duopoly has to offer is a choice of mirages. Come, let us trudge towards empty expanse of sand #1, littered with the bleached bones of Deaniacs and Hope and Changers.
-- lotlizard

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 4:17am

"deployed to protect poppy fields" So, Bolivia next?

@SnappleBC perhaps I've consumed too much CIA propaganda lately, or maybe not enough.
http://en.mercopress.com/2017/03/09/bolivia-expands-legal-coca-crop-area-by-12.000-hectares

... The coca leaf is commonly chewed or drunk like tea, but drug gangs make it into cocaine in a chemical process that brings out its narcotic qualities. Morales rolled back a 1988 US-backed law which curbed illegal coca growing by restricting production.
...
Morales signed into law a reform passed by congress last month. It officially recognizes as legal 22,000 hectares of coca crops, raising the limit of 12,000 hectares fixed in the previous law. A European Union study in 2013 estimated demand for legal coca in Bolivia at just 14,700 hectares.

Other coca farmers' unions boycotted the launching of the measure, alleging that Chapare supplies coca to the cocaine trade.

Bolivia is the third biggest coca producer in the world after Colombia and Peru. Those two countries are trying to reduce their coca crops to curb drug-trafficking.

Former president Jorge Quiroga said Morales's move would “bring international shame” on Bolivia “due to the stigma of drug-trafficking and the crime that it will cause.”

Michael Franti & Spearhead - We Don't Stop
They gotta war for oil, a war for gold
A war for money and a war for souls
A war on terror, a war on drugs
A war on kindness, a war on hugs
A war on birds and a war on bees
They gotta war on hippies tryin' to save the trees
A war with jets and a war with missiles
A war with high-seated, government officials
Wall street war, on high finace
A war on people who just love to dance
A war on music a war on speech
A war on teachers and things they teach
A war for the last 500 years
War's just messin' up the atmospere (true)
A war on muslims, a war on jews
a war on christians and hindus
a whole lotta people sayin' kill them all
...

Submitted by irishking on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 6:41am

" Oh yes, Senor, we are very glad to help you

@eyo

with your War on Everything."

- Robert Stone

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 8:39am

What stood out for me

@irishking this part made the spidy sense tingle, "drug gangs make it into cocaine in a chemical process that brings out its narcotic qualities".

Means there could be plenty of cheap, natural pain relief without the narco qualities? WTF! No wonder it's against the law.

And another thing! George Orwell answers the DNC question better than Tom Perez, I think it's not too far off topic.

“Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from the oligarchies of the past in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just around the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now you begin to understand me.”
― George Orwell, 1984

They sure wrote some dense paragraphs back then, eh? (1949) Preferred over today's "forty characters or less" ruling class I'd say.

Submitted by Wink on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 9:10am

Well, he was right about

@SnappleBC
the poppy fields. Must keep the 47% doped.
Is this a great country or what?!

—

the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.

Submitted by Bisbonian on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 9:57pm

"I proposed some time ago an alliance between ...

@Big Al ...Native Americans and Vets to start a movement."

I joined one. Didn't work out as well as I thought it might.

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:21pm

The mutineers could always defect to Russia.

@detroitmechworks

Submitted by detroitmechworks on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:25pm

I can't believe we've actually got anti-Tom Clancy scenarios...

@Alligator Ed approaching the realm of possibility.

Well, actually not that surprising. Considering the guy's dead and yet they still slap his name on military fantasy...

At this point though, I still have to vote going pirate/bandit. Because the Corporate slime are destroying all the countries they can, and there will be plenty of real estate to set up shop in. They can't protect EVERYTHING, much as they think they can.

—

I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:56pm

Ho, ho, ho! The sailor's life for me!

@detroitmechworks Just make sure we got plenty of rum and limes while searching for the mysterious unpolluted paradise.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntPLM3sLC8k]

Submitted by bygorry on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 7:53pm

spicer was asked about this at presser today

he shrugged it off, not very many boots, generals wanted to do it, Trump knows but just going along, all normal, nothing to bother congress about...

—

bygorry

Submitted by joe shikspack on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:07pm

evening al...

Evidently they're sending anywhere from 300-500 combat Marines and Rangers depending on what you read.

i heard 400 marines were sent on french teevee. france 24 is generally a pretty good source.

Submitted by Big Al on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:35pm

Evening joe,

@joe shikspack It is a small number but that's how it starts. I remind people Syria is about the size of Washington State, the state I live in, and try to imagine that kind of destruction and violence for over five years in this state.

Submitted by irishking on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 9:20am

oh man. not again.

@Big Al @Big Al

we know what they are doing, but appear powerless to stop them.

really need a better response this time, else continue as their victim-accomplices. but wtf how.

who voted for this deal?

They say necessity is the mother of Invention.

Submitted by Alligator Ed on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 8:30pm

The run-up to another Vietnam

We could use the wonderful Afghanistan (yes, I remember Afghanistan) as a model also. Things have worked out very well there. Lotsa people got rich, even more, many more people got dead. Shrub was warned by his generals in 2003 that an Afghan war could not be won, but WTF, let's go shoot up 'em up all to Hell! But in Afghanistan, there was significant initial infiltration (invasion) of troops from the get go. Now, just like in Vietnam, we are getting involved in somebody else's civil war. More troops will get sucked. Then more. Then body bags will start returning home in secret and the MSM won't say a thing. Finally Vladimir will get tired of our meddling and send his own troops to defend Assad. Voila, WW3. All for a country that has never threatened us. Oil, money, power, oil, money, power, oil, money...

Submitted by Bisbonian on Thu, 03/09/2017 - 10:00pm

Just wait until they send in the

@Alligator Ed s.

—

"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X

Submitted by SnappleBC on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 1:25am

As I understand it

@Alligator Ed it was never "someone else's civil war". Correct me if I'm wrong here, but in broad brushstrokes, didn't we initiate the civil war in Syria? Isn't it our "civil war"?

—

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 9:24am

Exactly, it was never a civil war,

@SnappleBC that was the imperialist narrative to make people think it wasn't a U.S. instigated war.

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 10:00am

The imperialist narrative has it's own wiki page

@Big Al here it is for the uninitiated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Syria

Contents
1 Coup of 1949
2 Attempted regime change, 1956–57
2.1 Operation Straggle, 1956
2.2 Operation Wappen, 1957
2.3 Assassination plot, 1957
3 Extraordinary rendition, 2001–03
4 Paramilitary raids, 2004–08
5 War, 2011–16
6 See also
7 References
7.1 Bibliography

Makes me think, it would not surprise if Trump outlawed all wikis at some point. War on Information, Ideas. The coming "security" clampdown awaits now all that back-doored software is in place, and (now verified) the cracking tools have been in the wild a long time. The "Intellectual Property" industry is going to lose it's shit, literally. All that proprietary crap depends upon secrecy and scarcity, not sharing and abundance. War of Disney approaches, but finding Nemo is fun.

Submitted by Big Al on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 10:50am

War on information.

@eyo Like this.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/03/06/facebook-begins-flagg...

Submitted by eyo on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 12:18pm

Weed out online terrorism, hate speech

@Big Al , like this: Google Exec Proposes Algorithms to Weed Out Online Terrorism, Hate Speech Ha ha! I have no idea about the veracity of sputniknews.com, but this is from the horse's mouth so to speak:

We should build tools to help de-escalate tensions on social media — sort of like spell-checkers, but for hate and harassment," Schmidt said. "We should target social accounts for terrorist groups like the Islamic State, and remove videos before they spread, or help those countering terrorist messages to find their voice."

Social media (Facebook, Twitter, Google) is a damaging sport, like football. So many consumers cannot resist participating in the manufacturing of their own consent to obey destruction. As if somehow good-hearted activists control those levers of power that mass media generates. I don't think so.

P.S. Superfluous apostrophes suck, especially when I put them in a Subject line. hmph

Submitted by Ellen North on Sat, 03/11/2017 - 7:16pm

@Big Al

@Big Al

From your link:

... Among the disputed offenders that people spotted on Facebook: A fictionalized story, "Trump's Android Device Believed To Be Source of Recent White House Leaks," from a fictional publication, "The Seattle Tribune." The story carried a disputed label with links to fact-checking services that explained why it was not true.

How to spot fake news

The website has a disclaimer that it is a "news and entertainment satire web publication." But the story fooled people anyway.

The "disputed" tag is part of Facebook's grand plan to crack down on fake news as the company tries to tamp down the controversy over its role in the spread of misinformation that sharpened political divisions and inflamed discourse during and after the presidential election. ...

How about just pointing out that it was a satire site?

I'll bet they don't go after the Onion as another clearly marked satire site to label it 'fake news'...

http://boingboing.net/2016/01/28/the-onions-new-owner-is-hill.html

/ Cory Doctorow / 7:52 am Thu Jan 28, 2016
The Onion's new owner is Hillary Clinton's most lavish financial backer

Univision, a hugely successful Spanish language broadcaster, bought humor newspaper/site The Onion two weeks ago, and in so doing, transferred control over a site that has produced scathing comedy at Hillary Clinton's expense to Haim Saban, millionaire financier and Democratic power-broker, who calls Clinton "pristine plus" and "great for the country and great for the world."

Saban has previously made bids for the Los Angeles Times and New York Times.

Saban describes himself as a staunch zionist and partisan for Israel ("I’m a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel"), which also has implications for The Onion, given its long history of scathing commentary on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and the system of Apartheid enforced by the Israeli state.

The Onion has refused to comment on whether Saban's ownership will influence its editorial policy. ...

But various billionaires do seem to be censoring/buying up once-useful sites on the net as fast as they can, it seems, even if they have to buy out - or pay off - various independent/once-progressive sites... Another sad waste of the public commons, developed at the American public's expense.

—

Psychopathy is not a political position, whether labeled 'conservatism', 'centrism' or 'left'.

A tin labeled 'coffee' may be a can of worms or pathology identified by a lack of empathy/willingness to harm others to achieve personal desires.

Submitted by k9disc on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 3:49am

Someone Should Do a "Terrorists Created Per Dollar" Calculation

My guess is we're spending $10-50M per "terrorist" created.

Seems like a bargain, eh?

—

“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

Submitted by janis b on Fri, 03/10/2017 - 5:45pm

This book sounds like it might be of interest to you.

How did Mohsin Hamid know this is what the world would look like in 2017?
“Exit West,” his prescient new novel about the world of migrants, of refugees, of scattered, frightened and brave nationless people roaming the world in search of some notion of home, has somehow landed on shelves at the moment the world’s eye has turned to the issue of migration.

This gentle optimism, this refusal to descend into dystopia, is what is most surprising about Hamid’s imaginative, inventive novel. A graceful writer who does not shy away from contentious politics and urgent, worldly matters — and we need so many more of these writers — Hamid exploits fiction’s capacity to elicit empathy and identification to imagine a better world. It is also a possible world. “Exit West” does not lead to utopia, but to a near future and the dim shapes of strangers that we can see through a distant doorway. All we have to do is step through it and meet them.