Who recalls Rand Paul, possibly high-- no one knows for sure-- telling a bunch of incredulous Republicans last month that "we're going to win when we look like America.

By Ramzy Baroud | Palestine Chronicle | September 4, 2013

RT | September 4, 2013

As the US Congress inches closer to a decision on a military strike on Syria, citing allegations that Assad forces used chemical weapons against the civilian population, activists in Damascus are stepping up their protest against possible attacks.
RT’s LIVE UPDATES on Syrian ‘chemical weapons’ crisis.

Endangered ConservaDems Ami Bera and Scott PetersA few months ago, when I wrote to a congresswoman who was elected as a grassroots progressive but then started voting like a conservative corporate shill, she blasted back that she's doing exactly what Steve Israel has been telling her to do.

Itar-Tass
September 4, 2013
West seeks to put mask of legitimacy to use force against Syria
MOSCOW: Western countries seek to “put a mask of legitimacy to use force against Syria”, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday.
“The West lacks ideas on how to portray use of force against Syria as legitimate. There are attempts to interpret the situation in different ways,” the report adds.

Xinhua News Agency
September 5, 2013
Syrian civilians coping with fear of possible U.S. strike
DAMASCUS: Over the past two years, Syrians lived with daily mortar attacks by rebels. Now, they have to cope with a new fear: Tomahawk missiles likely to be launched by the United States.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Allied Command Operations
September 4, 2013
NO PLANS FOR COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL FROM AFGHANISTAN, ISAF GENERAL SAYS
Story by Josh Smith, Stars and Stripes

By Glyn Moody | Techdirt | September 3, 2013

Which Americans will arrive first to Syria?

 
Will 1000 American ‘human shields’ stop another criminal war?
Franklin Lamb
Damascus

Against the grain | September 4, 2013

On 19 August, Colombian farmers’ organisations initiated a massive nationwide strike. They blocked roads, dumped milk on cars and basically stopped producing food for the cities. The problem? Farmers are being driven out of existence by the government’s policies.

Not afraid to speak truth to powerIgor Volsky and Judd Legum of Think Progress are trying to keep track of who's for bombing Syria and who's opposing it in Congress. And while they're getting a few specifics wrong here and there, theirs is one of the better "whip counts" available to the public right now.

Christoph Germann (Twitter: @newgreatgame), author of the New Great Game Round-up on BoilingFrogsPost.com, joins us today to talk about the proposed NATO pullout from Afghanistan in 2014.

Much thanks to James Corbett @ The Corbett Report for doing the work! 3 Sep 2013

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve written multiple times about the

Itar-Tass
September 4, 2013
Three Russian naval ships to enter Mediterranean September 5
MOSCOW: Two Ropucha-class amphibious assault ships of the Black Sea and Baltic Sea fleets – Novocherkassk and Minsk – and one reconnaissance ship of the Black Sea Fleet – Vishnya-class intelligence ship SSV-201 Priazovye – will enter the Mediterranean September 5-6, a source at Russia’s General Staff has told ITAR-TASS.

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
American writers on peace and against war
Ernest Hemingway: Selections on war
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Ernest Hemingway
From A Farewell to Arms (1929)

Yes, I have continued to tune into the Jew media Talmud-Vision to see what the liars are now saying about Syria.... It is so amazing that these liars and criminals are continuing to harp religiously that an attack on Syria is "necessary" due to Assad using "chemical weapons" on his own people.   In most cases the liars cannot even keep their facts straight and all we see now is pure unadulterated Bull Crap....Just this morning, I came across a most interesting article that made me do a slap to my own forehead in disgust...

MEMO | September 4, 2013

A retired Egyptian general has revealed details of an Egypt-UAE plot to impose a stranglehold on the Gaza Strip and overthrow the Hamas-led government. The plot, claims General Sami Hassan, is for the Egyptian army to act, with funding from the UAE government.
“The plan is led by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi,” tweeted Hassan. “He aims to achieve political and military gains in the coming days.”

The American people, just like the British people and the French people, oppose going to war in Syria... overwhelmingly. The other day, Orlando-area congressional candidate Nick Ruiz said that "As Democrats we know better than to fight unjust wars...

RT | September 4, 2013

Brazil will probe telecommunications companies to see if they illegally shared data with the NSA after it was found the US had been spying on President Rousseff. Brazil’s government has accused the US of lying about the NSA’s activities in the country.

RT | September 4, 2013

Lawmakers in Brazil have asked that American journalist Glenn Greenwald and his partner David Miranda receive protection from federal police, due to the importance of their testimony regarding an ongoing investigation of US spying practices.

Press TV – September 4, 2013

A top Russian defense official has warned the Israeli regime against “playing with arms and missiles” in a volatile region after it admitted to firing ballistic projectiles in the Mediterranean Sea without a prior warning.

William G. Howell at Foreign Policy explains that Obama’s decision to go to Congress was not out of respect for the Constitution but to gain political cover for an action he knows is reckless. Or, as Howell puts it, “to force members of Congress to go on the record today in order to mute their criticisms tomorrow.”

 Thanks to Mr Palmgren @ Red Ice Radio for conducting this most excellent interview.Good overall view of the situation in Syria. The creation of NATO jihadi fighters. The pipeline aspect to this whole situation. If you have been reading here at the blog, for the past 3 years, most of this will come as no surprise.

By Kevin MacDonald | Occidental Observer | September 1, 2013

Syria “Wag the Dog”. Towards a Major Mideast War?
Image courtesy Syrian Perspective
by Mark H. Gaffney
The United States is being manipulated into another even bigger Mideast War, and the only thing that can prevent it is an informed citizenry. The upcoming debate in Congress, scheduled to begin on September 9, will tell the tale.

In an increasingly phantasmagorical world, here’s my present fantasy of choice: someone from General Keith Alexander’s outfit, the National Security Agency, tracks down H.G. Wells’s time machine in the attic of an old house in London.  Britain’s subservient Government Communications Headquarters, its version of the NSA, is paid off and the contraption is flown to […]

Whatever else comes out of this ill-conceived and distinctly weird replay of the run up to the Iraq war, it will have established one fact beyond any doubt: House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, congressional doyenne of a corrupted corporate liberalism, is teetering on the brink of senility. What other conclusion can we draw from her […]

“Catastrophic!” said Sen. John McCain. If Congress votes no on a resolution calling for U.S. intervention in Syria’s civil war, says McCain, it would be “catastrophic” for U.S. credibility in the world. Consider what the senator is saying here. Because Barack Obama, two years ago, said “Assad must go,” and, one year ago, said any […]

When pundits debate military options for any of the many U.S. foreign interventions, most of them buy into, whether knowingly or not, some version of the "America-as-World-Policeman" approach to foreign policy. They usually either skate over the question of why the particular target nation is strategic to U.S. vital interests or simply say that issue […]

September 4, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - NBC News' report, "'The great tragedy of this century': More than 2 million refugees forced out of Syria," stated:

Itar-Tass
September 3, 2013
Russian expert says Mideast made narrow escape from major war Tuesday
By Itar-Tass World Service writer Tamara Zamyatina
MOSCOW: Launching of two ballistic missiles in the Mediterranean water area testifies to the ongoing U.S. preparations for air strikes against Syria, a top-rank Russian military expert said in an exclusive interview with Itar-Tass Tuesday night.

 US military sick and tired of war, have no faith in government
 
 
(RT) – The US government has no more credibility with the American people and the military that are “sick and tired” of war which has now lasted for 13 years, Gordon Duff, a marine veteran has told RT.

Obviously, that's Engel in the middleAIPAC managed to get its most subservient congressman, New Dem Eliot Engel, elected Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Car bombers struck en masse in and around the capital again today. Overall, at least 80 people were killed and 236 more were wounded across the country.

DOWNLOAD MP3 - NewWorldNextWeek.com: The Syria Situation (This is an audio-only version of 'New World Next Week'.)Welcome to the New World Next Week - the video seri

Congress and the Imperial Presidency Debate Syria – An Analysis

 
by Lawrence Davidson
 
Part I – The President Goes to Congress

But could I just pick a bit at the org name?Online registration closes Friday for the 24th Annual NYC Century Bike Tour on Sunday.by KenI think it was a couple of years ago on a Jane's Walk walking tour on Staten Island that I met a bright, committed person affiliated with Transportation Alternatives, which I'd never heard of.

Review by Gilad Atzmon | September 3, 2013

Bashar al-Assad interview: ‘Show me the proof of regime chemical attack’

 
Damascus, (Sana) – President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to Le Figaro. Following is the full text:

By DIANA JOHNSTONE | CounterPunch | September 3, 2013

The American people do not want US armed forces to get involved in the civil war in Syria. The United Nations will not back US bombing of Syria. The British Parliament does not want to get involved in bombing Syria. World public opinion is opposed to US bombing Syria. Not even NATO wants to take part in bombing Syria. So who wants the United States to bomb Syria?

Press TV
September 1, 2013
Israel, Saudi Arabia after elimination of Syria sovereignty: Expert
“Israel would like to see, as would several other neighboring countries, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the elimination of Syria as an independent force in the Arab World and in the general Middle East.”
Video

In a dazzling display of chutzpah, the White House is demanding that Congress demonstrate blind trust in a U.S. intelligence establishment headed by James Clapper, a self-confessed perjurer.

By David Swanson | War is a Crime | September 2, 2013

By Craig Murray | August 31, 2013

Late last month, only 9 percent of Americans supported a U.S. intervention in Syria even if chemical weapons attacks were confirmed, according to a Reuters/IPSOS poll. Just over a week later, after the gauntlet of pro-war propaganda from the Obama administration, Congressional leaders, and the media, that number is up to 29 percent, according to Pew.

My pal Roland was back at school last week. He seemed really happy with his students this year, at least in terms of behavior. As far as their ability to learn the basic stuff from the syllabus... he usually says the kids in his inner city elementary school don't learn because of their situations at home. My parents encouraged me to do my homework and status was awarded in my house based, at least to some extent, on achievement in school. Many of his kids' have very different situations at home, including parents on drugs or in prison.

Stars and Stripes
September 3, 2013
Former SACEUR calls on NATO to back up Obama
By John Vandiver

By JOHN V. WHITBECK | CounterPunch | September 3, 2013

Now that Prime Minister David Cameron has sought parliamentary approval for “military action” against Syria and President Barack Obama has announced his intention to seek congressional approval, can President François Hollande, as a political if not a strictly constitutional matter, afford not to do likewise?