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Almost none of us are paying attention to the major war in the world today—and if we are, probably have no idea what it is really about. What does this say about our personal and societal progress?
A campaign to make sure Susan Rice does not become the next Secretary of State tells us a lot about how things really work—in foreign policy, in the establishment, and in the media. ### NEWS FLASH ###, December 13: Susan Rice withdraws name from consideration—this article provides relevant background.
Now that the US has had a few days to rejoice or despair over Obama’s re-election, here’s one area where the candidates agreed—and what you may have missed over the past two months–in the (barely) covert war on Syria.
Really interesting material on Syria flies by, largely unnoticed and unremarked upon. Here’s a grab bag of potentially consequential items from the past couple of months.
As pressure grows for military intervention in Syria, we are now hearing that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad is behind alleged widespread rape in his country. Didn’t we hear the same thing about Muammar Qaddafi, followed by mounting Western calls for his ouster? As before, when you read the fine print, it gets more complicated.
The Western coup against Syria’s Assad marches along under humanitarian cover, the lemming-like media does its part, and the rest of us miss the whole thing. George Orwell would be so, so impressed.
We keep getting reports of atrocities committed by the Syrian government. Those reports may well be accurate. But the truth is usually a bit more complicated in war zones. If news organizations don’t start adopting a higher standard for their reports, another Libyan-style intervention, complete with massive bombing and untold civilian casualties, may be inevitable.
Fareed Zakaria, the favorite pundit of the Council on Foreign Relations, is bewildered that the Saudis aren’t more welcoming toward Arab Spring. And he loves George W. Bush’s love of freedom. Maybe this is why CNN ratings are at record lows.
Everyone’s in a hurry to say goodbye to the “Lockerbie bomber,” the man convicted of bombing Pan Am 103. But a closer look is warranted—as usual—when the stakes are so high. Was Libya really behind the atrocity, or was some other country or element involved?
Heart-rending accounts of Syrians suffering at the hands of their government make powerful storytelling. But they hide the big-picture: a trumped-up opportunity for the West and its Arab allies to remove yet another “inconvenient” regime.
Most news coverage focuses exclusively on uprisings backed by the West, by corporate interests and by the Saudi royal dictatorship. We thought we’d update you on one that is deliberately ignored.
Take a close look at the uprising in Syria, and what do you find? Another well-oiled puppet show.