Conflict drags on interminably. Dozens or more die daily. Syrian forces outmatch Western-backed death squad terrorists. They\u2019re not rebels. They\u2019re lawless invaders.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re US proxy fighters. They\u2019re imported from dozens of countries. They\u2019re waging war against sovereign Syrian independence. Don\u2019t expect duplicitous Western politicians or media scoundrels to explain.<\/p>\n
Assad\u2019s military outguns and outflanks Washington\u2019s shock troops. Reinforcements keep coming. Libya 2.0 looks possible. Perhaps likely.<\/p>\n
Russia hopes for a September international peace conference. Originally a June one was planned. Why bother when Washington prioritizes war. It spurns peace. Last year\u2019s conference failed.<\/p>\n
Expect nothing different this time. Peace remains elusive. Advocates have no partners.<\/p>\n
According to European Council president Herman Van Rompuy:<\/p>\n
\u201cA military solution to the crisis is impossible. (T)he solution is only diplomatic.\u201d Conflict can end soon. It can happen if Washington calls off its dogs. It shouldn\u2019t have unleashed them in the first place.<\/p>\n
Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey said he provided Obama with \u201coptions for the use of force.\u201d He declined to explain more.<\/p>\n
\u201c(I)t would be inappropriate for me to try to influence the decision with me rendering an opinion in public about what kind of force we should use.\u201d<\/p>\n
John McCain\u2019s super-hawkish. He\u2019s not alone. He asked the wrong question. He asked Dempsey what carries greater risk: continued limited Washington intervention or more robust tactics.<\/p>\n
He favors more heavily arming terrorist fighters. They\u2019re getting plenty of weapons already. He wants no-fly zone protection implemented.<\/p>\n
Doing so\u2019s an act of war. It\u2019s illegal without Security Council authorization. So is meddling in Syria\u2019s internal affairs politically, economically, and\/or militarily (directly or indirectly).<\/p>\n
McCain\u2019s dismissive of international law. So are other congressional hawks. Dempsey said he favors \u201cbuilding a moderate opposition and supporting it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question whether to support it with direct kinetic strikes\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00a6is a decision for our elected officials, not for the senior military leader of the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kinetic strikes refer to missiles, bombs, drone attacks, and other military initiatives. \u00a0According to Dempsey, they\u2019re \u201cunder deliberation inside of our agencies of government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about Dempsey\u2019s comments, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama always asks military commanders for options. It\u2019s \u201ctrue in an arena like Syria\u201d and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Obama\u2019s reviewing them, he added. According to Vice Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral James Winnefeld:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a whole range of options that are out there. We are ready to act if we\u2019re called on to act.\u201d<\/p>\n
These type comments aren\u2019t new. Whether direct US intervention follows remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Senator Carl Levin wants it. He wants Syria bombed. He urged Obama to attack \u201cairfields, airplanes and massed artillery.\u201d He supports terrorist insurgent invaders. He does so shamelessly. More on him below.<\/p>\n
Armed Services Committee members are considering whether to renominate Dempsey and Winnefield for second terms. McCain\u2019s opposed.<\/p>\n
Democrats have majority say. Expect both top commanders to be approved.<\/p>\n
At the same time, anti-Assad forces are fighting each other. Extremist Al Nusra insurgents are clashing with Free Syria Army elements. Unity remains elusive.<\/p>\n
Things escalated dramatically. Whether full-scale internecine conflict follows remains to be seen. If so, maybe each side will annihilate the other. That\u2019s one way to wind things down.<\/p>\n
Al Qaeda wants its own. Syrian unity is threatened. So far insurgent extremists lack enough strength to prevail.<\/p>\n
Assad forces consistently rout them. Without US intervention, they don\u2019t have a chance. They can prolong conflict.<\/p>\n
They can cause many more deaths, injuries and displacements. They can\u2019t prevail without Libya 2.0 help.<\/p>\n
General David Richards is UK outgoing armed forces chief. Britain must be prepared to \u201cgo to war\u201d with Syria, he said. \u201c(I)f you want to have the material impact on the Syrian regime\u2019s calculations that some people seek\u2026ground targets\u201d must be \u201chit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lack of international consensus on how to take this forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to cohere the opposition groups, but they are difficult to cohere because there are many different dimensions to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it is work in progress. So I am very clear in my military advice to the government that we need to understand what the political objective is before we can sensibly recommend what military effort and forces should be applied to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is something we debate a lot, from the Prime Minister downwards. We also need to do this with our allies.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAllies have different views on the way ahead. Understandably there is a great reluctance to see Western boots on the ground in a place like Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you wanted to have the material impact on the Syrian regime\u2019s calculations that some people seek, a no fly zone per se is insufficient.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be able, as we did successfully in Libya, to hit ground targets.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to establish a ground control zone. You have to take out their air defences.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also have to make sure they can\u2019t manoeuvre \u2014 which means you have to take out their tanks, and their armoured personnel carriers and all the other things that are actually doing the damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to have the material effect that people seek you have to be able to hit ground targets and so you would be going to war if that is what you want to do.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is rightly a huge and important decision. There are many arguments for doing it, but there are many arguments for not doing so too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Syria\u2019s situation is \u201chighly complex,\u201d he stressed. Escalated war risks cross-border conflict. It\u2019s happening in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
It could affect all Syria\u2019s neighbors. Perhaps other regional states. The entire region could become embroiled. Global conflict could follow.<\/p>\n
Richards knows the risks. So do other high-level military commanders. They\u2019re warriors, not peacemakers.<\/p>\n
Richards called himself a \u201cmoral soldier.\u201d His remark is offensive. It\u2019s oxymoronic on its face. He said Afghanistan\u2019s a \u201cgood war.\u201d<\/p>\n
Others know better. Benjamin Franklin said \u201c(t)here is no such thing as a good war or a bad peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia said it won\u2019t let Assad be toppled militarily. It has strategic interests at stake. Perhaps it wants Syria to be Obama\u2019s regional Waterloo.<\/p>\n
Halting his imperial rampaging\u2019s important. If Russia and China aren\u2019t committed, who will be? United they stand the best chance. It\u2019s time they stepped up to the plate and acted.<\/p>\n
America wages wars on small nations. It prefers weaker ones it can roll over. It abstains from challenging more equal rivals militarily. Bullies operate that way.<\/p>\n
Jimmy Carter believes \u201cAmerica does not at the moment have a functioning democracy.\u201d It never had one. Carter didn\u2019t explain.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s pessimistic. He\u2019s got good reason to be. He called Snowden\u2019s leaks \u201cbeneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n
He thinks NSA spying undermines US credibility worldwide. It constitutes \u201cthe invasion of human rights and American privacy.\u201d It\u2019s \u201cgone too far.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the secrecy that has been surrounding this invasion of privacy has been excessive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think that the bringing of it to the public notice has probably been, in the long term, beneficial.\u201d<\/p>\n
He criticized Obama\u2019s policies earlier. He condemned his drone attacks. He called targeted assassinations lawless.<\/p>\n
Imperial policies undermine America\u2019s \u201crole as the global champion of human rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmerica\u2019s violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends.\u201d<\/p>\n
America lacks moral authority. It lost it multiple ways. Carter\u2019s no saint. Compared to Obama, he looks that way.<\/p>\n
A Final Comment<\/p>\n