DISPATCHES FROM STEPHEN LENDMAN
Two criminal imperialists: One decorating the other. U.S. Secretary Robert M. Gates, left, promoting Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III (the mountain on the right) to four-star general at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. The military has long been a career choice for Black Americans.
He continues bombing seven countries illegally, way exceeding the worst of George Bush – including Afghanistan and Pakistan (AfPak), Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.
ISIS massacring Syrian army POWs. This is the kind of “moderates” that Washington, its misinformers and Uncle Tom military are now peddling again.
Murder by drone is official US policy, killing few so-called high-profile targets, overwhelmingly affecting noncombatant civilians, the latest atrocity in Somalia. On March 8, drones and warplanes killed about 150 Somalis. No evidence suggests they were terrorists as claimed. Rules of engagement authorize anything goes. Indiscriminate murder refutes the dominant narrative’s Big Lie.
In testimony this week to Senate Armed Services Committee members, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM) General Lloyd Austin urged reestablishing the program to train and equip so-called “moderate rebels.”
“I’ve asked for permission to restart the effort by using a different approach,” he said.
Gen. Austin (seated): Looking to train “moderate rebels”. These guys will do anything to milk the prevailing script that will promote their own careers. In times of extreme crisis for humanity, dumb, bureaucratized or conformist and self-seeking military are one huge hurdle in the path to healing.
False! The proposed new approach belies what’s been ongoing throughout five years of endless war, resolution nowhere in sight. No moderate rebels exist. All anti-government forces are terrorists, imported from scores of countries, regional and elsewhere. The so-called earlier program to defeat ISIS never existed, funds used to recruit and train their fighters, along with other anti-Syrian death squads.
It remains ongoing, using terrorist foot soldiers to oust Assad, replace his legitimate government with one Washington controls, partition Syria into two or more mini-states, steal its resources, exploit its people. So-called peace talks are dead-on-arrival before beginning next week – if at all after numerous postponements.
Cessation of hostilities is pure illusion. Multiple violations occur daily. Lower intensity fighting is temporary ahead of war winds again reaching gale force.
Conflict continues because Washington rejects peace. All post-9/11 wars continue endlessly, Afghanistan to reach its 15th anniversary this October – resolution nowhere in sight, or in other US war theaters.
Permanent war is official US policy, serving longstanding imperial objectives, with bipartisan support – humanity more threatened today than any previous time in history.
STEPHEN LENDMAN lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III." ( http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html ) Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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