Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 213

Bill "Killer" Keller Crying Over No War

The former NYT chief editor, now writing doggerel as weekly columnist, tonight pollutes the Internet with a rare blog post--apparently inspired by a crying jag after Obama failed to bomb the hell out of Syria.  This is the same Keller who proudly proclaimed himself a "reluctant hawk" over our invasion of Iraq, only apologized half-heartedly (and it's a small heart), and stood behind Judy Miller far longer than seemingly morally possible.  And now he's throwing a tantrum because Obama is not bombing Syria by daybreak. 

Rebels vs. Christians in Syria

As the Times' notes this sorta complicates U.S. claims and presents a "publicity" problem.

For Syrian rebels fighting in recent days around the ancient Christian town of Maaloula, any gains made in battle could be wiped out in the war of perceptions.

Their incursion into the town, led by extremist Islamists, reinforces the worst fears of Syrian Christians and could bolster President Bashar al-Assad’s claims that he is the Christians’ protector. It may also complicate President Obama’s task as he struggles to convince Americans that a military strike against Mr. Assad will not strengthen Islamic extremists....

Most of the town’s residents have fled, and Maaloula, one of the last places where Aramaic, the language of Jesus, is still spoken by Christians and some Muslims, has become a one-word argument against Western support for the rebels — at the worst possible time for Mr. Obama and the opponents of Mr. Assad. 

The Evil Inanity of Hitting Syria to Hurt Iran

Gary Sick, the Iran expert:

One of the arguments that is being trotted out to support the extremely unpopular proposal of a military strike against Syria is that it will establish US credibility against Iran. I understnad the motives. When you have a weak case, you pull out anything that you think will change the odds. But let’s just look at the facts:

Iran took a decision to proceed with a nuclear program roughly a quarter of a century ago. Since that decision, the US has invaded Iran’s neighbors to the east and west; we have surrounded Iran with military force that they could never possibly match; we have imposed the most draconian sanctions, possibly in world history, and have forced the gross devaluation of their currency while cutting off the bulk of their trade. We have acquiesced in the the assassination of their nuclear scientists and we have almost certainly conspired to introduce the most damaging offensive cyber attack (Stuxnet) in history against their nuclear sites. We have flown drones over their territory…need I go on?

Despite all that, they have proceeded slowly and steadily to increase their nuclear capability, in the process drawing closer to a possible breakout capability. They have already spent twice as long as any other country that chose to go for a nuclear weapon — and they still haven’t done it. In fact they say they reject the very idea. They have a new government that is committed to seeking a negotiated settlement to the nuclear issue.

So they don’t believe we are serious? And a limited strike on Syria is supposed to change this somehow for the better?

HRW Says Assad Side Likely Used the Weapons

From AP this morning.  Full report here.

BEIRUT — An international human rights group says evidence “strongly suggests” Syrian government forces fired rockets with warheads containing a nerve agent into a Damascus suburb in August, killing hundreds of people there. Human Rights Watch says it has examined documents from the alleged chemical attack on Aug. 21 in Ghouta, a sprawling, rebel-held suburb of the Syrian capital.

The New York-based group says the nerve agent used was “most likely, sarin.”
In Tuesday’s report, HRW says it analyzed witness accounts and “the type of rockets and launchers used” in the attack.  It also says the group’s experts studied documented medical symptoms of the victims and analyzed activist videos posted on the Internet after the attack, which has brought the United States to the brink of a military intervention in Syria’s civil war.

On Fire?

We aired  teaser for song off upcoming Arcade Fire CD last week, now here's the whole (lengthy) tune.

67 Questions on Syria

The 76-member Progressive Caucus in the House  has sent  a letter (signed by Rep. Keith Ellison) to President Obama    listing 67 questions they would like answered on Syria and plans to bomb it.  Most of the members are undecided right now and they want answers by or on Wednesday.  Link takes you to the letter and the questions.

New Jimi Flicks

Word out today on new John Ridley bio-pic on the Young Hendrix debuting at Toronto Film Festival, but still without a distributor.   Also we've learned about a two-hour doc coming in November, to be aired on PBS, along with new live CD.  Allegedly the film will be broader than the usual what-a-guitar-god thing.   Might well see part of the below:

New Van Gogh

Amazing news from Amsterdam today--new Vincent painting IDed and it's from Arles, no less.

WikiLeaks and Syria

Once again, Bradley Manning's leaks in Cablegate show their value, as NYT in top story on its site now cites many cables showing how other nations--including U.S.--help Assad assemble large chemical weapons storehouse.   In our country, it was mainly the government looking the other way as U.S. companies supplied "precursor" agents that everyone knew could, and probably were, being used for weapons.

Franken Backs Syria Strike--No Joke!

Latest Wash Post count on the Syria vote in House:  226 lean no; 25 yes; 182 undecided.  Their full account here, including the Senate, every name and in some cases quotes.  Speaking of which, Al Franken backs it, and that's no joke:

Franken and other lawmakers huddled for nearly three hours with Pentagon, State Department and intelligence officials about Syria during a rare Friday afternoon classified briefing for all lawmakers.

He rarely takes questions when traversing the Capitol complex. But he talked to reporters Friday, saying he wants to make sure any use-of-force resolution's language is narrow enough to place limits on any US military operation.

Franken says it is important for the US to let Bashar al-Assad and other world leaders know they cannot use illicit arms without repercussions. He placed himself into the "leaning yes" column.

AIPAC to deploy 250 lobbyists on this and you can already see in the vote breakdown that most of the more pro-Israel liberals are backing Obama on attack.