War Pigs Squeal for More Military Intervention

Now that they are riding high over humiliating Russian leader Vladimir Putin with a cluster bombing of disgraceful propaganda related to the Sochi Olympics and feeling their oats after their meddling led to the toppling of the democratically elected president of Ukraine the U.S. establishment war freaks have once again set their sights on Syria. Putin was the fly in the ointment that prevented Obama and Kerry from sending the bombers and cruise missiles into Damascus back in September on the pretense that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad had “gassed his own people” – it worked to perfection when they took out Saddam Hussein and the sheeple swallowed it again hook, line and sinker until Putin’s intervention took the wind out of the war machine’s sails. It is always very easy to dupe the American people into support for more war even while the domestic infrastructure crumbles and as their pensions and retirement benefits are looted so as to not impede the war machine.

The hypocrisy of the American empire  is strutting around like the proverbial cock of the walk today after having engineered the ouster of  Viktor Yanukovich with their typical horseshit about democracy. What happened in Kiev would never have been tolerated in the U.S of A. it would be like if the so-called tea party had taken up arms after being instigated by fascists to march on Washington D.C. to demand the removal of Barack Obama from the presidency, staging street battles with police and setting buildings and cars on fire. Just how long do you think that would have been allowed to go on?  The paramilitary police response to such a thing would have made the defacto imposition of martial law on a large chunk of Beantown during the search for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and that pales in comparison to what would have happened were the Ukraine model were used here in The Homeland. It’s not just Obama either, what would Bush have done? For too long this country’s power elite have relied on mob violence to implement ‘democracy’ which really translates into leaders who will protect the economic interests of American corporations and energy cartels.  But the most important thing to take away from Ukraine and the continually morphing situation on the ground is that it was really an operation that was a part of the larger proxy war against Putin

The dominoes were all set up to fall perfectly for the opening of a new front in Syria before the damned gay-hating Putin interfered, the war porn videos of the Ghouta victims had prepped the public, they were a masterpiece of war propaganda, right up there with Saddam’s soldiers ripping Kuwaiti infants out of incubators back in 1991 (which was a lie) to Saddam having ties to al Qaeda (more bullshit) and last week’s  incredible movie like footage and stills of Kiev alight with fires and clashes between ‘freedom fighters’ clad in improvised Medieval gear and the state police. The Ghouta use of Sarin gas on civilians has never to this day definitively been proven to have been an official act of the Assad regime so the bloodsucking parasites who continue to feed off of the American taxpayer will have to find something new to roll out when justifying an attack on Syria. Don’t worry though, there are billions of dollars of money pumped into a network of state media organizations, public relations firms and other official and underground lie factories to do what the father of modern propaganda Edward Bernays tabbed the “engineering of consent”. They will soon find some other outrage to sell to the schmucks.

While getting the military into Syria is the primary objective the apple of the eye of the neocons, a war with Iran is still possible and a number of renegade Senators continue the relentless push  to sink the P5+1 talks, this time with the language to impose a wave of onerous new sanctions deviously tucked within an unrelated bill as an obvious gift to "King Bibi" when he arrives for his latest visit to D.C. You have to give it to the fuckers, they never give up and a new round of sanctions would almost certainly scuttle the talks and punch the nation’s ticket for yet another ruinous war. This is really on the verge of getting dangerous with Syria and Iran the venues for the next two stops on the PNAC’s world domination tour and the agitation in Ukraine we are getting closer to a nightmarish scenario in which Russia will be sucked in and then we are talking WW III. I know that this would send the neocons, the lunatic right-wing in Israel and their Armageddonist foot soldiers that are the American Christian Zionists who need a global eruption of apocalyptic violence to bring Jesus back but it would bode ill for billions of other humans who don’t have either vested ideological or financial interests in such a conflagration.

My regular morning review of the news always begins with a visit Antiwar.com which is far and away the best foreign and domestic policy information source in regards to our addicted to war nation and the fascist surveillance state that it needs to quash dissent. This morning writer Justin Raimondo delivers his usual excellent commentary in a column entitled “A World of Trouble” from which I excerpt:

Of the above listed trouble spots I would rate Syria as potentially the most worrying. This is true for two reasons: 1) Geography – the country is smack dab in the center of the world’s most contentious region, the Middle East, bordering volatile Lebanon, conflict-torn Palestine, and the shaky regime in Iraq – with US-aligned Jordan adding a base of US operations to the south. Another important factor is: 2) Politics, i.e. domestic US politics, which is always the decisive factor in determining how and when the War Party will strike. The interventionist lobby, concentrated as it is almost exclusively within the political class, doesn’t take defeat easily, and they are running true to form in this case. Prominent voices have called on the President to reconsider his stance, and the pro-Israel lobby in collusion with the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are both stepping up the pressure.

US military intervention in Syria would have serious consequences for the region, first and foremost the derailing of the US-Iranian peace talks. Assad’s Syria is one of the mainstays of Tehran’s defensive alliance, the other leg being Hezbollah: air strikes or other US military moves against Assad would give Iranian hardliners all the excuse they need to call for an end to the negotiations – and the Supreme Leader would be under considerable pressure to take heed.

The end of the peace talks would set the clock ticking again on the prospect of a US and/or Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities. As I wrote here, Iran is the biggest foreign policy issue the US faces in 2014, and the reason is fairly simple: war with Iran, a country twice the size and population of Iraq, would make "Operation Iraqi Freedom" look like a Sunday school picnic. Every nation in the region would be drawn in, with Russia not likely to stand on the sidelines.

War with Tehran would mean economic disaster for the West, with the price of oil skyrocketing, shortages, and real suffering here at home. "Sticker shock" doesn’t even begin to describe the consequences: sticker trauma is more like it.

With the possible exception of Venezuela, none of these multiple crises can be considered in isolation: the key connecting factor is Russia. Vladimir Putin has set himself up as the antipode to the US and its dream of constructing a "new world order" based on unipolarity and America’s undisputed military dominance. Ideologically, Putin has positioned Russia as the conservatizing factor in world affairs, as opposed to the "progressive" and revolutionary character of American influence abroad. In effect, Washington and the Kremlin have switched positions as a new cold war breaks out, with the former leading a global effort to overturn the old order of sovereign nation-states and the latter resisting US-backed revolutionary movements throughout the world.

My fellow Americans – how does it feel to be citizens of the new “Evil Empire”? There has always been that drive to having to be “number one” that we have been indoctrinated to believe as though it is holy gospel. Well rejoice for we are now thanks to our warmongering establishment the “number one” threat to not only the rest of the planet but also to the continuing existence of the human race itself thanks to our elected representatives being corrupt fools with no foresight given to what will happen when their real life war games lead to a scenario where the nukes are unleashed.

A Tale of Two Christmas Speeches

In a revealing contrast of Christmas messages from President Barack Obama as well as from Pope Francis the difference between the permanent warfare state of The Homeland and the message on the teachings of Jesus Christ were made clear. While the Pontiff delivered his initial Christmas message to the world from St. Peter’s basilica, calling for peace, in Sudan and in Syria even as the warmongers in America continue to push for war in both countries as well as a resolution to the forever intractable Israel-Palestine situation Barry was promoting militarism and empire. Obama, in Hawaii on holiday vacation with his family took time for the obligatory visit to a Marine Corps base for a public relations appearance to pay homage to our imperial stormtroopers.  He laid in on thick as he and the first lady milked the military appearance for all that it was worth, “Michelle and I know that we would not enjoy the freedoms that we do if it weren’t for the incredible dedication and professionalism and work that we do” crooned El Presidente. While it wasn’t exactly a surprise visit to a Baghdad war zone chow hall on Thanksgiving Day wielding a plastic turkey as a prop as his predecessor did it was more than surreal to hear the man whose NSA surveillance programs are a global disgrace and who dials up drone strikes that often kill innocent women and children taking about “freedoms” and holiday peace.

The always pervasive U.S. militarism can no longer be escaped, not even on Christmas Day in this armed madhouse of a country. It is now deeply embedded within the national DNA now, sporting events are rife with military references and metaphors, cloying and insincere homages to our blessed troops, million dollar flyovers of stadiums and mandatory suckling of all things military have siphoned off any form of enjoyment from all of it for a non-worshipper of the religion of the state.  It has gotten far worse too, since “the day that changed everything” and set the U.S. on a course of perpetual warfare, when in the aftermath the flags and bunting and regalia were a star spangled reincarnation of the state bachanallia of late stage Weimar Republic when everything also changed for another society that had a date with destiny and an unyielding love of militarism.

Writer Lawrence Vance had a piece over at Lew Rockwell.com entitled The Cult of the Uniform from which I excerpt:

There are a number of distinctly American symbols that evoke feelings of pride, nationalism, and patriotism. There is the Constitution. There are monuments like Mount Rushmore, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial. There are structures like the Statue of Liberty and the Liberty Bell. There are buildings like the White House and the Capitol. There are also things that there are many of: American flags, bald eagles, dollar bills, and images of Uncle Sam and the Great Seal of the United States.

In the last ten or so years, these symbols have all been superceded by one image that is so powerful and so overwhelming that it drives some Americans to tears and causes others to act in the most nonsensical and irrational of ways.

I am referring to a military uniform.

Not just any military uniform, of course, but one of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marines. And especially a uniform adorned with lots of badges, awards, medals, ribbons, and insignias. Naturally, a uniform that indicates that a member of the military has been in combat is far superior to a uniform not so ornamented.

The reverential status bestowed upon our servicemen and women, who are now just anointed with the title of “HERO” despite the majority of them never actually having engaged in any actual sort of heroic behavior as has been understood from previous days is a dangerous distinction in that it is a confirmation of a society that has already accepted authoritarianism. Put the “heroes” in full uniform and patrolling the streets of America when the day of the collapse finally arrives and it smells like tyranny. Obama also used his Christmas radio address to appeal to the better angels of Americans:

"For families like ours, that service is a chance to celebrate the birth of Christ and live out what He taught us - to love our neighbors as we would ourselves; to feed the hungry and look after the sick; to be our brother's keeper and our sister's keeper."

But it all rings very hollow coming from this leader of this country at this time in history. While the Pope used his Christmas address to also reach out to those of other faiths as well as atheists to call for peace and social justice it must always be remembered that we live in a corrupt land of hypocrisy where each and every year brings more income inquality and a callousness of our ‘leaders’. Were Obama a sincere man he would have spent the holiday acting more like Jesus, perhaps providing comfort in one of the plentiful tent cities that have sprung up while the national credit card continues to be racked for more wars and banker bailouts instead of making a phony public relations appearance on a Marine base acting like he gives a rats ass about the troops while his administration and the detestable congress continue to work ceaselessly to start more wars that they can then be marched off to serve as cannon fodder for corporate profits.

And most importantly of all, campaign contributions. As General Smedley Butler so aptly put it "War is a Racket" and nowhere on the globe more so than here in our god kissed land of destiny. 

"Veterans" March on D.C. Not Exactly the Bonus Army

As a military veteran I always want to vomit whenever political groups and their operatives are able to dupe enough gullible former servicemen and women into acting as foot soldiers for those whose cynicism knows no bounds. Sunday's veterans march on Washington, a planned and staged event designed to wave the bloody flag instead of the "Where's The Birth Certificate" signs to allow for the red, white and blue cheesecloth that the usual suspects wrapped themselves up in in the latest jihad against Obama. Now I have been pretty much clear in my disgust with dear leader, his rotten to the core administration, his crony capitalist bailouts, the corporate giveaway that is Obamacare, drone strikes, NSA surveillance and war mongering but what truly nauseates me are the phonies who have attached themselves to the troops and past military veterans like barnacles on the bottom of a garbage barge. Take for instance the parasitic Sarah Palin who despite her neocon enthusiasm for eternal war and who has never met a gullible state media hack that she couldn't exploit who slimed out of her Alaskan rat hole to shrilly denounce the black Muslim devil in the WHITE House. Standing next to her was the Zamboni Cowboy Ted Cruz, a man whose raw ambition is only exceeded by an egomaniacal need to close the ground on television appearances on John McCain in a few short months. Any event that these two rancid excuses for Americans appear at is forever debased and defiled because of their presence.  

The loathsomeness of the king and queen of the dipshits actually does the impossible in that it makes Barry and his agents look tolerable by comparison.

This was a big weekend for the so called tea party which was co-opted years ago by plutocratic tax chiselers and well heeled Republican party strategists. There was the "Truckers to Shut Down America" invasion of the American Gomorrah on the Potomac which was about as noticed as a fart in a hurricane and of course the "Million Veteran March" which thanks to Teddy and Sarah and their ilk was a predictable failure. While there were probably a good amount of actual vets with good intentions the crowd was filled with ringers and the same type of angry freaks that are given freebie meals and bussed in by organizations underwritten by the Koch Brothers and Dick Armey. The piss yellow Gadsden flag that has come to be the official standard of American willful ignorance and the confederate flag outnumbered Old Glory and legitimate vets with serious grievances were supplanted by thugs and hooligans who destroyed taxpayer financed property and frolicked with the typical fascist abandon normally seen outside of mid-twentieth century German beer halls after one of Hitler's speeches.  I was always under the impression that being "conservative" meant having respect for the law as well as property but these are not your father's conservatives that march under the banner of Teddy the Conqueror. Event organizers are reportedly not happy that their protest was hijacked by American brownshirts.

I strongly support veterans groups but the two that I find the most credible, Veterans For Peace and the Disabled American Veterans were not to my knowledge  promoting this rancid carnival of perversion. The aforementioned presence of the Gadsden flag and the Stars and Bars were a dead giveaway that this thing was largely staged and  the pictures of the crowd that I saw had the trademark demographic composure of those garish displays of rabble rousing more associated with the anti-Obama pogroms than anything remotely related to traditional veterans gatherings. The U.S. military to it's credit is one of the most diverse and integrated institutions in the land yet the absence of brown and black skinned members was damning by their absence.  

It was a thoroughly undignified, cynical and tasteless display that only served to exploit veterans as political props but considering that the chickenhawk neocon types that normally promote this crap have no qualms about sending them off to die in foreign wars for idiotic reasons it is par for the course.  I reiterate, not that a good amount of those who showed up were no’ veterans, it is just that absent the legitimacy of honest vets organizations and the prominent presence of   liars, cheats and bottom-feeding social dreck there is really no way that they can be taken seriously. There was also a presence of members of the right-wing Oathkeepers paramilitary group, an updated version of the old Minuteman militia arm of the John Birch Society, an organization that should have been relegated to the trash heap of history long ago but which found an infusion of new life when Bircher alumni like Charles Koch, whose family fortune came from his daddy building oil refineries for the communist butcher Joseph Stalin began pumping money into the rebranding of the discredited loonies of the GOP base.

I am pretty sure that this piece is not going to go over well with some but as a libertarian I have a unique ability to be able to call bullshit on both of the terminally corrupt American political parties and all within their orbit - until one of these so called principled swine is willing to come right out and denounce the rotten system as well as to detach their own lips from the big government teat they are all frauds. Don't think that Cruz and Palin represent anything than two power freaks who salivate over gaining control over a big government that can be used as a bludgeon against their enemies and unimpeded access to the money spigots that provide the spoils for a system long ago rigged and rotten.

Sunday’s warm up act of such dubious nature will be overshadowed by an actual planned protest at the World War II memorial by a far more diverse collection of veteran’s organizations including the DAV on Tuesday according to some reports. The Cruz-Palin traveling circus should practice what they preach and respect our real veterans by staying the hell away tomorrow. Veterans have legitimate reason to raise hell, they will have to just get in line with the rest of the peasants and bend over so that the big boys on Wall Street can keep the casinos open. The ticking clocks and media hysteria will continue all the way until D-Day as in Default Day on Thursday and the predictable last second deal gets cut by Obama, McConnell, Reid and the rest of the chickenhawk clowns on the establishment payroll. Garish fakes like Palin and Cruz can’t be bothered with any principled opposition to the crony capitalist warfare state that is the real reason why veterans are being screwed out of their benefits by the same swine that sent them into the Middle East meat grinders for the benefit of the speculators.

Eighty years ago The Bonus Army, comprised of World War One veterans occupied Washington D.C. to protest the sitting government and demand that which was due to them for their service and suffering.  Marine Corps General Smedley D. Butler who much to the dismay of the establishment used his influence and name recognition to promote the reality that indeed "war is a racket" showed up in support of them . The government, led by President Herbert Hoover eventually ordered that the military be used to break up the protests and send our veterans, who sacrificed life and limb in fighting for our "freedom" were driven out by Army troops led by a military man who would eventually come to be known as General Douglas MacArthur. The irony should not be lost in that MacArthur in his post-military career came to be supported by supported by sunbelt fascists and hard core right-wingers as they sought their man on a white horse who could eviscerate this country for their own greed and lust for power.  The sunbelt fascists evolved over time and now have finally found their man of action and transformation. While it is unlikely that Barack H. Obama, war criminal and terrorist will send in the military to break up this week's veterans protests it is even money that Teddy of Texas via Canada be welcomed as a red state savior in the equivalent of some southern beer hall this week.