How is this not the top of the headlines!?!

We are being very quickly drawn into the conflict in Syria, and no one seems to care.
Well, Americans don't care, but everyone else in the world does. They care a lot.

Australia has suspended all air operations over Syria in the wake of US forces downing a Syrian jet and a warning from Russia that US-led coalition planes are now targets for its forces in parts of the country.
The news from Australia, one of the coalition partners fighting ISIS in Syria, was described as a blow for the US, putting it in a "very difficult position" at a critical time as the battle to liberate the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa continues.

One of our closest, most loyal allies took a look around, assessed the situation, and said, "Fuck that sh*t! I'm out of here. Good f*ckin' luck!"
That should tell you something.
Most notably is the details of Russia's warning/threat.

The ministry said in a statement: "All kinds of airborne vehicles, including aircraft and UAVs of the international coalition detected to the west of the Euphrates River will be tracked by the Russian SAM systems as air targets."

That's a no-fly zone!
Russia just declared a no-fly zone in Syria against the U.S.!
And the American media didn't notice, which is just bonkers.

And then hours later, this happened.

A US F-15E fighter jet shot down a pro-Syrian regime drone near At Tanf, Syria, on Monday, two US officials told CNN, the third downing of a pro-regime aircraft this month.

The situation is ratcheting up by the day.
People outside of the U.S. have noticed. What's more, they've noticed that our focus has shifted.

The Syrian army, supported by the Russians, is fighting Isis. I have witnessed this with my own eyes.
But what is America doing attacking first Assad’s air base near Homs, then the regime’s allies near Al-Tanf and now one of Assad’s fighter jets? It seems that Washington is now keener to strike at Assad – and his Iranian supporters inside Syria – than it is to destroy Isis. That would be following Saudi Arabia’s policy, and maybe that’s what the Trump regime wants to do.

On the rare occasion that our news media pays attention to this crisis, it is usually framed in a way that Assad is the one forcing a conflict.
However, there are exceptions to this spin.

“American forces and American allies are not only taking territory from ISIS, they’re holding that territory against regime forces,” David French writes at National Review. “There’s a word for what happens when a foreign power takes and holds territory without the consent of the sovereign state —‘invasion.’ In many ways, current American policy is a lighter-footprint, less ambitious version of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. We’re using local allies, but our own boots are on the ground, and we’re directly defending our forces and our allies from threats from Syria’s own government.” In his estimation, “the key warring parties increasingly face a stark choice—agree to a de facto partition of the country or inch toward a great-power conflict.”

Let's recall that there has been no congressional vote authorizing U.S. military operations in Syria, or even a real debate. Nor has the U.N. approved of our intervention.
Let's also recall what candidate Trump said about war in Syria:
“What I am saying is stay out of Syria… AGAIN, TO OUR VERY FOOLISH LEADER, DO NOT ATTACK SYRIA - IF YOU DO MANY VERY BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN & FROM THAT FIGHT THE U.S. GETS NOTHING!”

Where did that guy go?

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Wink's picture

it's "over there" somewhere. And, if it's not mentioned on the 6:30 news - and it ain't - then can't be all that important. Besides... somebody else's kids are fighting it, so... who cares?

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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.

@Wink

Except that they've left, not only Russia but all targeted countries on that nasty little list, no option but to go on high alert to strike America with everything they've got before they are obliterated by The Psychopaths That Be and at the least take their attackers down with them and the rest of the world.

The missiles will not, this time, be restricted to the previously generally impoverished/helpless countries the US Psychopaths That Be choose to militarily invade for corporate-interest (and resultant corrupt politician) enrichment/empowerment/global takeover.

I'm still trying to figure out how to kiss my ass good-by - can't reach it even in a (yoga) Plough position...

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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.

@Wink

very easily these days. We've been clearly warned that it will.

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dance you monster's picture

. . . when I was a kid (1960s), thinking that WWIII would start with frictions between Pakistan and India. Turned some heads when I answered that way -- it was a novel thought in flyover country.

Seems I was wrong.

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@dance you monster
Australia stuck by the U.S. all through the pointless Vietnam War. They lost more than 500 soldiers in the process.

But this time they told us, "You're on your own with this madness."

Australia thinks this time is different.

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CB's picture

@gjohnsit
in line. It's not like they are an independent country from the US. They will sit, fetch or chase the ball at the whim of the Pentagon.

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Pluto's Republic's picture

@CB

…will change, don't you think? Australia can see the advantages in regional rather than racial alliances. Geopolitics is a powerful force.

Of course, the US is in a panic over it. The US media monopolies are already gearing up to call it "communism overtaking Australia." Heh, those wacky Neocons. Foreign analysis is a bit more pragmatic; this from Germany:

Australia drifts toward China amid wobbly US ties

Australia is only one of the few countries to have officially established a prime-ministerial level dialogue with China, beginning in 2013. Li is the most senior Chinese official to visit Australia since 2014, when President Xi Jinping finalized a major bilateral trade deal.

Accompanying the premier on this trip is a large business delegation, with the ultimate aim of strengthening Chinese-Australian economic ties.

The well-being of Australia's economy is increasingly linked to Chinese investment. China is Australia's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding $107 billion (99.5 billion euros) and bilateral investment over $100 billion, while Australia is also an important source of resources for a developing China.

Deputy Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, Professor James Laurenceson, says the Chinese-Australian economic relationship is mutually beneficial for a number of reasons.
"China is already Australia's biggest overseas customer, buying double the value of goods and services than Japan does in second place," Laurenceson told DW. "China also delivers Australia its biggest trade surplus. For a whole range of sectors, from tourism, education, beef to wine, the rise of China's middle class is the best news on Australia's economic horizon."

The US out of the loop on this for many reasons. No small consideration is the fact that everything the US touches turns to shit. And then, there is the monumental lack of class that the US brings to the world stage.

Beijing's move to maintain strong ties with Canberra comes as the international community attempts to contend with US President Donald Trump's erratic presence on the global stage.

In February, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Australia for talks only days after a well-publicized phone call between Trump and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in which the former accused the latter of trying to export "the next Boston bombers" under a previously arranged refugee-resettlement deal between the two countries.

[:::groan:::]

Trump is alleged to have abruptly ended the conversation after telling Turnbull it was "the worst call by far" he had had with a foreign leader. The now-infamous exchange led to strains between the long-term allies, leading to speculation that China would take advantage of the fallout as foreign relations show signs of shifting under the new US administration.

The German media is only marginally better than the US. The idea that "China would take advantage" of poor little empty-headed Australia is repugnant and insulting. I guess the German press thinks they still have a shot at Empire via their US Neocon descendants.

In any event, from the AIIB to One Belt One Road infrastructure project [OBOR], Australia has good reason to align with a peaceful superpower, that also happens to be their largest trading partner and next door neighbor. Next thing you know, US propaganda will paint Australia as a state sponsor of terror. You can already see the groundwork.

However, Laurenceson says talk of Australia needing to delicately balance its relations with China and the US are overdone. "The reality is that Australia will evaluate its own interests on individual decisions," he said.

Australia could find itself in a difficult position however. The incumbent US administration has repeatedly affirmed it would challenge China over the South China Sea conflict if necessary. "Clearly, a conflict between China and the US would not remotely be in Australia's national interests so the government continues to emphasize diplomacy at every opportunity," said Laurenceson. "A former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating, said that Australia needs to find its security in Asia, not from Asia. We are still getting there but the truth of that statement is only going to become more obvious."

Australia's future lies in becoming part of the Eastern hemisphere.

The failed US Empire should stay in the NorthWest Hemisphere and work on itself.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
CB's picture

@Pluto's Republic
not the US which has fucked it over seven ways from Sunday.

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lotlizard's picture

@gjohnsit  
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/23/gough-whitlam-1975...

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CB's picture

@lotlizard
piece of history.

John Pilger is one of the greatest peace activists we have ever had. I notice the Dems threw him under the bus when he spoke the truth about Obama and Hillary.

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dervish's picture

@CB back then? Have there been any changes since to restrict them?

That's nuts.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

@CB

Continually throwing the sane and reasonable under the bus certainly makes for a bumpy ride en route to the cliff's edge, doesn't it?

Can you imagine what the world would be like now if the US had never been run by corrupt power-hungry, pathologically profit- and monopoly-obsessed lunatics messing up the lives of all so that there could be less possible that they could get more of themselves?

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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.

dervish's picture

Just like all of our other Presidents, except maybe Kennedy.

I was surprised by the news about the F-15, I figured that they'd give it a rest for a day or two. I suppose that this mission is a big FU to Russia and Syria, as well as Iran, but I wonder what the Russian position is? Did they lock on the F-15? Have the lines of communication re-opened?

We might be at war already.

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

@dervish

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What is the point in informing a populace if government does not respond to its people? And either the Democrat or the Republican will win all elections?

No good can come to plutocrats from a well-informed populace, or from a well-educated populace. Best to keep the hoi polloi ignorant and distracted, especially when it comes to war. Leave everything to the selected unrepresentatives and those who pay them--and I am not referring to government salaries.

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@HenryAWallace

Beyonce had her twins, and JayZ is so happy.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

CB's picture

@dkmich
It seems I've heard that before...

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@dkmich

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edg's picture

@dkmich

What are their names?!?!

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CB's picture

@edg

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EdMass's picture

I and Big Al and Allenjo have been raging about this crap for over a decade. Our "movement" against Vietnam is now 50 years old and dead. Hey, where's my SS monthly payment?

No one cares.

Not in the flyovers, not on the coasts, certainly not at ToP.

Don't you see?

As long as we entice the poor, the brown, the undocumented, the un-entitled white mofos to join the military as a path to some gd promised land all we do is perpetuate this never ending war.

At one point, I really believed we were better than this.

Guess not.

Crap

PS. Grace Slick, nuff said ! Wink

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

@EdMass

No one cares.
Not in the flyovers, not on the coasts, certainly not at ToP.

Yeah I checked TOP before posting this. Not one single diary about it.
Part of their purge of the impure meant also purging everyone who cared about foreign policy.

There was a flash of people caring when Trump bombed that airfield.
But during the vastly more important escalation over the past couple weeks...? Nada. Nothing.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@gjohnsit

Yeah I checked TOP before posting this. Not one single diary about it.
Part of their purge of the impure meant also purging everyone who cared about

..... anything!

"Better Democrats" is in the ashcan right next to the entire sub-collegiate working class and their just concerns. With "storming the gates" down several layers below composting away.

What kos wants over at the other place (TOP) is nothing but yuppies making six figures and willing to do and believe what he (and the Democratic Leadership Council) tell them to do and believe.

In other words, a bunch of imperialist center-right nose-in-the-air snotrags.

Diablo

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@gjohnsit

Probably don't want to publicize the escalation until the polling comes in on the best way to frame it, blaming the most other people/countries for as many of their self-created issues as they can. The tendency's seemingly endemic among, oddly enough, the war-mongering, pathologically greedy crowd with which the Clintons run, all blatantly giving the world 'the bird' of the same psychopathic feather.

(Just in case necessary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/give%20(someone)%20the%20bird )

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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.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@EdMass

That's politically and intellectually impossible. Too much of one and not enough of the other.

But finally, finally, the world is stepping up. A hundred things have been put into motion since the beginning of the year.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

nothing changes with any new POTUS, it all just continues. Deep State in action.

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Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur

CB's picture

@lizzyh7
better than 95% of the US electorate. I believe he has a very deep insight into how the bureaucracy/Deep State in the Beltway functions. That is why he has been remarkably successful in saving Russia from disintegration since 2000.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@CB

Putin understands American democracy/politics better than 95% of the US electorate. I believe he has a very deep insight into how the bureaucracy/Deep State in the Beltway functions.

He's also pretty damn astute as to how the bureaucracy/Deep State in the Kremlin functions, too!

That is why he has been remarkably successful in saving Russia from disintegration since 2000.

Indeed!

Smile

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Pluto's Republic's picture

@thanatokephaloides

I'm so glad I got ringside seats for such global happenings, along with yet another rise and fall of a Western civilization. The greatest show on earth.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
CB's picture

@Pluto's Republic
A rare phenomenon in today's leaders.

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Wink's picture

@Pluto's Republic
miss it for the world. This is indeed the greatest show on earth! Now if we can just live thru it. Fat chance.

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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.

fakenews's picture

@Alligator Ed Something is compelling the US's actions and I wouldn't be surprised if something as out there as "aliens" have given the deep state a script. Either play by this script or you are "toast". The "out there" could be Mossad blackmail - now that's an attack for which the US politicians have NO defense and the "toast" possibly some kiddie porn engaged senator / congressman??

Peace
FN

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"Democracy is technique and the ability of power not to be understood as oppressor. Capitalism is the boss and democracy is its spokesperson." Peace - FN

@fakenews

That could certainly explain why they seem so intent on creating a methane atmosphere on Earth; probably have a deal to sell real estate to wealthy aliens who want a novel vacation spot with a breathable atmosphere by their standards...

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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.

CB's picture

@Ellen North
a delicacy. They were very expensive due to shipping costs. Having dachas on the planet would allow regular consumption of these treats.

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@CB

Too bad that the freezer section of the planet is being so rapidly melted; however are they going to save our corpses for profitable sale and consumption once we go extinct?

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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.

CB's picture

@Ellen North
filled with poisonous oxygen in order to breed their meat. Lack of a freezer will then not pose a problem. Besides, homo sapiens are tastier when they've been allowed to ripen with the heat for a few days.

The aliens have planned this for many decades.

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@CB

And the giant glass bubbles, such as TOP and the Dem Party, are already filled and waiting?

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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.

CB's picture

@Ellen North

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Citizen Of Earth's picture

won the election after all.

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Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.

He went to Mar-a-lago!

... leaving the White House situation room in the care of two junior-level Zionists and a couple of calcified Cold Warriors.

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native

CS in AZ's picture

@native

Just like he is now. He's never had a clue what he's babbling about. So he called Obama foolish and warned about "very bad things" in Syria. What "things"? Ha - don't ask Trump, he has no idea (and the vocabulary of a third-grader). What could go wrong?

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CB's picture

@CS in AZ
Obama never had much control over foreign policy. Just look at how schizophrenic his was. He was constantly being pulled in different directions. I figure there are several factions within the Pentagon/Pentagon and the CIA/CIA that will fight it out among themselves. Take note that the doubles are not a misprint. I'm not sure what the percentage between the insane wackjobs and the less insane realists are within these departments.

We live in interesting times.

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@CS in AZ
Just about anything! And if something can go wrong, there's a good chance it will. However I continue to maintain a small hope that something might yet, accidentally or inadvertently, go right.

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native

CB's picture

It's all about regime change in Syria and Iran. Keep in mind these are the last remaining countries on the list of seven countries that have yet to be destroyed and neutered.

I figure the US hawks are willing to keep pushing and pushing until Putin's back is against the wall. Putin has managed to outsmart them time and time again, ever since he managed to pull Russia out of the ashes in 2000. What will Putin's response be to the illegal US intervention/invasion of a sovereign state that Russia is militarily allied to?

US, Russia, and Iran Edging Closer to All-Out War in Syria
US Strikes on Pro-Govt Forces Bring Nations Into Growing Conflict

US, Russian, and Iranian military forces have all been involved in the Syrian War for some time now, and all with differing agendas. As they all increase their involvement, those fights have become less separated, and particularly in the case of the US and Russia, the threat of direct clashes is growing.

After several incidents in which US warplanes attacked Syrian pro-government targets, the US yesterday had its biggest attack, shooting down a Syrian Su-22 bomber inside Syrian airspace. The US insisted the attack was “collective self defense” meant to protect the Syrian Kurds.
...
That war with Iran, something many US hawks have coveted for decades, is predicated at least in part on these clashes in Syria not getting the US into a direct shooting war with Russia, as America’s goal of imposing regime change in Syria has grown to the point that, apart from US support from rebels, they’re also carrying out direct attacks on Syrian military forces. All this is ruining the pretense that US forces in Syria are only there to fight ISIS, and has put them in direct conflict with Russian interests.

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dervish's picture

@CB

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"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."

CB's picture

Assad's forces from skirting Raqqa to the south in their push towards Dier az Zor. This where the Syrian plane was shot down by the US.

EDIT: close info screen on top to view underlaying map and you will see what the US is trying to do.

Definitely looks like the US wants to partition Syria as was described in the Rand report several years ago. Unfortunately for war planners in Washington, Syria, with the help of Russia and Iran, has already exceeded the boundaries that were specified.

Take note that most of the rationalization for the balkanization of Syria, sectarian/ethnic strife, current and historical facts show that most of this 'strife' did not exist until it was exacerbated by outside forces. If elections were held in Syria at this time, Assad would get over 80% of the vote, DESPITE the majority being of different religious/ethnic background than he.

Newsbud Exclusive- The Balkanization of Syria & Iraq: The Roadmap to US-Israeli Hegemony in the Middle East

We are often told that the invasion and occupation of Iraq and the war in Syria are disastrous failures of Western foreign policy. This article, however, argues that the architects of these wars were, and are, well aware of the destabilising consequences of their military efforts, and in fact, had always regarded the breakup of Iraq and Syria along sectarian lines as a desirable outcome. The millions of deaths and injuries resulting from these horrific wars, as well as the displacement of several more millions, then, are nothing more than “collateral damage” to achieve US-Israeli hegemony in the region. Viewed from this perspective, post-9/11 Western Middle East policy in retrospect is not a failure, but a success.
...
So, while mainstream pundits opposed to the Trump administration - such as the New York Times (Thomas Friedman; Bilderberg attendee and member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission) and the Guardian (Hamish de Bretton-Gordon)[65] - keep advocating for the breakup of Syria, Trump happily follows their advice. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security advisor, even suggested a multinational occupation of Syria in a 2015 interview with Der Spiegel:

“The sad fact is that we have to put troops on the ground. We won’t succeed against this enemy [ISIS] with air strikes alone. [...] We can learn some lessons from the Balkans. Strategically, I envision a break-up of the Middle East crisis area into sectors in the way we did back then, with certain nations taking responsibility for these sectors. [...] The United States could take one sector, Russia as well and the Europeans another one. The Arabs must be involved in that sort of military operation, as well, and must be part of every sector.”[66]

The Trump administration, and the influential generals in it, are thus likely to follow orders from the Pentagon. Therefore, current US policy might be close to a strategy for partitioning Syria as laid out in a three-part series called A peace plan for Syria published by RAND corporation, a think tank closely aligned to the Pentagon. The first paper was initiated after Philip Gordon, senior fellow at the CFR and Bilderberg attendee, resigned as advisor to Obama and wrote an op-ed for Politico arguing for radical decentralisation in September 2015.[67] In the first RAND report, the authors, among them Gordon, claimed that establishing “safe zones” was “far better than the status quo and far more practical than any of the available alternatives;”[68] in the second piece, they presented a number of options, ranging from decentralisation to autonomy;[69] and in the last one, published in February 2017, they advised the new administration to enforce a balkanised Syria by establishing “control zones,” even though by then the Syrian army had retaken Aleppo and had made other military and diplomatic gains that shattered RAND’s previous plans.[70]
...

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snoopydawg's picture

@CB
the people who are in our government can be okay with this mindless slaughter of civilians in any country that TPTB wants resources from.
Millions to a billion people have been killed by this country since 1945 and especially after the demise of the USSR.
For no other reason except that the happened to be born in those countries, people's lives are not worth considering.
I have a hard time killing bugs and could never be involved with this mass murder trial our government has been part of.
It isn't just our government making these decisions, other country's leaders are also on board with this.
What's going to happen after they achieve global hegemony? Will these leaders focus their efforts on their citizens?
Sure, I can see that happening all to well.
SMDH

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

CB's picture

@snoopydawg
The American Century is on the wane. Russia and China and the non-aligned nations now have the military and economic clout to end it. The problem is how to curb the US without it resorting to global war. I think reason and intelligence are not strong suits of the American war machine. I'll put my money on Putin and Xi. The future is a multi-polar world.

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@snoopydawg

Well, if you consider that, pretty much since their inception, many industries/corporations have been knowingly, if incidentally, killing not only workers but the general public and environment in the pursuit of profit increased by allowing the free hazarding/poisoning of human and environmental health, it's easy to see why psychopaths and a psychopathic culture dominates not only corporate culture but the political culture they've bought into, perhaps initially through the Old Boy's Club but now, it seems, mainly via cash/lucrative career offers/career and possibly other threats.

When great power and wealth are gained by those most ruthless and single-minded about their accumulation and this is permitted by any society, the resultant disaster is easily predictable.

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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.

Big Al's picture

so it's not going to tell the American people the truth. The propaganda about the U.S. war in Syria, still outrageously labeled as a "civil war", has been off the charts since the U.S. started it's war against Syria in 2011.
The question is where is our Congress, where are our representatives? Not a peep from them, nothing, and our government is committing grave war crimes as we speak. Nothing about how the U.S. is ILLEGALLY in Syria, how it is actually protecting ISIS and other terrorist/mercenary groups.
It shows, again, how our Congress and Senate are completely controlled by the oligarchy as the media. No wonder Americans don't care, they simply don't have the information and their government and the media lies to them every second of the day.

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earthling1's picture

@Big Al
How long do you all think we can continue disseminating this information, even amongst ourselves?
Expect some kind of censorship or control of c99% and other truth exposing sites, probably thru our service providers or outright martial law.
Critical mass is near. All it will take is a decisive victory by Syrian forces or a shoot down of a American aircraft.
The American people must be kept ignorant at all costs.
The possibility of a distracting false flag attack of major proportions here in America is real. Expect it.
I really, really hope I'm wrong.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@earthling1

The possibility of a distracting false flag attack of major proportions here in America is real. Expect it.

I strongly suspect that this will happen rather than the censorship, for the simple reason that it's both cheaper and more effective, as Hermann Goering pointed out:

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

source

And showing the people they are being attacked works even better!

Bad

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Pluto's Republic's picture

Expect some kind of censorship or control of c99% and other truth exposing sites

@thanatokephaloides

This community needs a plan B. Perhaps an email list server set-up. Like soon. Facebook is not a Plan B.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
earthling1's picture

@Pluto's Republic @Pluto's Republic
Or perhaps becoming a member of a right wing site just to hide ourselves among them. PM each other to stay in contact. The Ptb are likely to leave the right wing sites alone because a complete shutdown of the intertubes would draw their ire also. Not necessary to shut their supporters up.
We could use a code to identify each other; "make america gr8t again", all lower case. Or something.
If we don't plan ahead, we could be caught flatfooted.
Like BOOM, we're shutout. And it's over. This entire community destroyed in a keystroke.
P.S. Jtc could come up with a code and PM all current trusted members.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Pluto's Republic

Facebook is not a Plan B.

Facebook serves the other side! Bad

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

earthling1's picture

@thanatokephaloides
on a protected site would be ideal. It would still provide a means of communication.
A sub Reddit would not do.

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Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.

Pluto's Republic's picture

@earthling1

The interest of the authorities would be to remove "disruptive topics" from the pubic eye.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato

@thanatokephaloides

And anything on the intertoobz must be assumed to have been noted by myriad watchers...

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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.

CB's picture

@Ellen North
will invariably cause the missing of real threats.

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@CB

Lol, as we've seen! But that's from our perspective. From theirs, it would appear that peaceful dissenters are viewed as the real threat. Remember Occupy? And the often-elderly peace protesters on the no-fly lists? And all of the others?

We're all among the ones who help to validate the notion of democracy TPTB and their lackeys wish to universally distort/destroy within all societies. Even those of us who do nothing more than make snarky comments on political sites. Concepts - and the free discussion of them - matter.

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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.

If Trump does not get hyper-aggressive with Russia, then he is in Putin's pocket. Maddow is closely watching troop levels on Russia's borders to ensure they don't go down.

If Trump starts a war with Russia in Syria, how will the democrats and media justify the war while claiming Trump is Putin's lackey?

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@MrWebster
Is basically putting a real shooting war with virtually unlimited costs, on the same political level as the War on Christmas.

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CB's picture

@MrWebster
to cognitive dissonance. I've seen this time and time again at TOP. Half the population there have zombified brains. Every time a new bus arrives, no matter from what direction, they climb aboard and say that is where they wanted to all along.

"Oceania was at war with Eurasia: therefore Oceania had always been at war with Eurasia."

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Steven D's picture

@CB @CB a hilarious train wreck.

Very sad.

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"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Steven D

And they call us here a hilarious train wreck.

Very sad.

Say, kos, is that projector a Kodak or a Bell & Howell?

Wink

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

snoopydawg's picture

@MrWebster
She is unrecognizable from the person who used to bring us 'Life during Wartime' when she was on Air America. And during the Bush years when she appeared on Keith's show.
After Obama was elected, her war coverage was minimal.
That she is pushing the Russian propaganda is not surprising at all.
My uncle hangs on every word she spouts. I understand that since he's a Obama and Hillary supporter. I used to try to argue with him, but gave up. He is no different from people who watch Fox.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

@snoopydawg I tuned people on to her. When I tried to turn them off of her, I got called alt left, a Trump supporter and worse.
I unwittingly did the work of TPTB.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

thanatokephaloides's picture

@on the cusp

@snoopydawg I tuned people on to her. [Rachel Maddow] When I tried to turn them off of her, I got called alt left, a Trump supporter and worse. I unwittingly did the work of TPTB.

No, you didn't. Rachel did that to you.

She sold out -- probably because she didn't want to end up like Keith Olbermann did.

Your alignment did not change.

Wink

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@thanatokephaloides

That being why she was the only 'progressive' retained during the purge. She's a mouthpiece for money where, I suspect, the ones fired off refused to betray the public and their integrity.

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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.

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp
I think I told my uncle about both her and Keith however, that was when she just got her own show and was parroting the same things I agreed with her on.
Rachel is smart enough to know that this Russia thing is just propaganda, but she probably has been told to push it anyway.
I wonder what I would do if I was getting paid $30,000 a day?
I'd like to think that my principles would let me walk away from the job, especially after making millions for years and decide that is enough money to retire on.
Seriously, how many millions does one need to retire on or find another place to work.

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Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@snoopydawg

Seriously, how many millions does one need to retire on or find another place to work.

Please don't forget that Ms. Maddow lives in New York City. It probably costs $10,000 a day just not to be homeless..... /s

Wink

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

@MrWebster

Lol, they depend upon cognitive dissonance - consider the 'survivable nuclear War On The World' they want!

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0 users have voted.

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.

ggersh's picture

Trump's Ominous Tweet: "China's Help With North Korea Has Not Worked Out. At Least It Tried"

While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!
58,565
JUN 20, 2017 2:50 PM
228

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-20/trumps-ominous-tweet-chinas-hel...

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

CB's picture

@ggersh
The truth is that Xi was laughing AT him.

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lotlizard's picture

@CB  
that he himself, Henry Kissinger, was in the class of people who are sexually irresistible due the supposedly aphrodisiac properties of the life-and-death political power they command.

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@lotlizard

Nice, self-flattering way of stating that his abuse of power extended to sexual predation...

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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.

Bollox Ref's picture

Great movie.... and George Clooney did a tremendous job.

Is this a remake?

Okay, so what's on tonight. Got the guide around somewhere.....

/s

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Bollox Ref @Bollox Ref

Great movie.... and George Clooney did a tremendous job.

Is this a remake?

Okay, so what's on tonight. Got the guide around somewhere.....

/s

Had multidirectional time travel existed in the late 1970s, Irwin Allen would have needed no creative writers! Just travel 45 years into the future to now, record the news, make sure to get all the facts, and then go back and make a disaster flick or 3 based on what he gathered! You've got everything, a Towering Inferno in downtown London to the materials for a blockbuster dystopian epic (or even a Star Wars like series!) with global climate change, government corruption, and media monopolization!

He'd make so much of a mint he'd be an oligarch today!

Sad

EDIT: Per Wikipedia, Irwin Allen died in 1991.

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

Bollox Ref's picture

@thanatokephaloides

Many times (not quite sure why it's an 'adventure'?).

Following witless Theresa May, the Tories, Grenfell Tower, mayhem on the streets of London, and Brexit,..... I can envision a disaster in the making, let alone a movie.

Good times.

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Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.

thanatokephaloides's picture

@Bollox Ref

I've seen The Poseidon Adventure many times (not quite sure why it's an 'adventure'?).

I forgot to put that one in! With the rising oceans due to human-caused climate change, he could shoot a Poseidon Adventure-like disaster flick in Miami -- again, sans any need for creative writers!

Following witless Theresa May, the Tories, Grenfell Tower, mayhem on the streets of London, and Brexit,..... I can envision a disaster in the making, let alone a movie.

Good times.

Ooooh! Call the movie British Disasterthon 2017! Old Irwin would make a mint! /s

Wink

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

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

ZimInSeattle's picture

By Robert Parry

The U.S. mainstream media’s near universal demonization of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin – along with similar hatred directed toward Iran and Hezbollah – has put the world on a path toward World War III.

Ironically, the best hope for averting a dangerous escalation into a global conflict is to rely on Assad, Putin, Iran and Hezbollah to show restraint in the face of illegal military attacks by the United States and its Mideast allies inside Syria.

In other words, after the U.S. military has bombed Syrian government forces on their own territory and shot down a Syrian warplane on Sunday – and after Israel has launched its own strikes inside Syria and after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have financed and armed jihadists to overthrow Assad – it is now up to the Syrian government and its allies to turn the other cheek.

Of course, there is also a danger that comes from such self-control, in that it may encourage the aggressors to test the limits even further, seeing restraint as an acceptance of their impunity and a reason to ignore whatever warnings are issued and red lines drawn.

Edited to put in block quote.

Bold added. More: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/06/20/spoiling-for-a-wider-war-in-syria/

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"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020

boriscleto's picture

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

boriscleto's picture

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" In the beginning, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry, and is generally considered to have been a bad move. -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy "

I'm thinking the slavering. warmongering neolibs. are hoping that if they keep pushing the Trumpster he'll push Russia in turn too far with these escalating incidents as a means of being "manly" and "proving he's not Putin's stooge." Since apparently he's leaving most of the decisions to the Pentagon, not having the wit or interest to do anything but fully pretend to be Commander in Chief, he'll have to pretend any crazy shit they do on their own was his idea because he'd never want to admit he'd lost control of the military.

That's just one of the reasons why having a barking idiot as President is so dangerous. The only thing more dangerous would have been Madame Clinton because she would have skipped most of the foreplay. Bomb The grammatical quality of the lies might have been higher, but that's about it.

Okay, I've reached my tolerance limit for this stuff for today. I wish a lovely evening to everyone. Good luck to us all. Bye

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CB's picture

@NCExile
With Trump we get to actually see the shit that is going into it. I consider that an improvement.

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riverlover's picture

we are tied to the mast. Have ever we made to feel more powerless?

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Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.

@riverlover

And as long as we let ourselves be made to feel powerless, we will remain tied within our own minds to never notice how steeply we outnumber the usurpers infiltrating our public services in so many democratic countries. Make 'em nervous until they run off to New Zealand to hide within the piles of ill-gotten gains they've already drained, well away and out of public policy. Not that NZ deserves that...

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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.