Britain: Washington’s Convenient Pawn

Stephen Lendman

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“Getting most people to believe Big Lies. Mindless of Washington’s imperial objectives. Its plan to redraw the region’s map. Divide, conquer, colonize, plunder, exploit and control. Create instability, chaos, and dystopian harshness. It’s longstanding US policy…”

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[B]rits are at it again. “Cameron plays Tony Blair,” said Patrick Cockburn. His “government has no more idea of what it is getting into…than Blair…in 2003.”

It’s mindless. It sucks up to Washington shamelessly. It’s a convenient pawn.  It’s an imperial tool. It partners with American adventurism. It does so lawlessly.

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Its post-9/11 US war alliances proved disastrous. Repeating failure defines insanity: Continuing failed policies. Expecting different results.

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Tories, New Labour and Lib Dems voted overwhelmingly to partner with Obama’s war on Iraq. They approved a lawless imperial motion 523 to 43. Another 69 MPs abstained. They “recognize(d) the (so-called) clear threat ISIL poses to the territorial integrity of Iraq and the request from the Government of Iraq (under extreme US pressure) for military support from the international community and the specific request to the UK Government for such support.”

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It includes “UK airstrikes to support Iraqi, including Kurdish, security forces’ efforts against ISIL in Iraq.”  It supposedly excludes “airstrikes in Syria as part of this campaign, and any proposal to do so would be subject to a separate vote in Parliament.”

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Expect mission creep. It’s coming. Cameron lied claiming “no legal barrier” to bombing Syria. Islamic State fighters aren’t targeted. Or their ability to wage war. Claiming otherwise is false. It bears repeating what other articles stressed. ISIL is the pretext. Syria is the target. Regime change is the objective.

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Obama’s objective ousting Assad. Replace him with a convenient US stooge. A supportive government. Replicating subservient Afghan, Iraqi and Libyan ones. On Friday, London’s Guardian said UK bombing was imminent. It could start any time. Perhaps before announcing it. Six Tornado warplanes are ready to go.

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Parliamentary authorization was rubber-stamp. Guardian editors expect no better results this time than earlier. “Few policies of this kind survive undented once” they’re implemented, they said.

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This time won’t be different. Expect mission creep. Expect permanent war. Britain already has so-called “advisors” in Iraq. MPs approved sending more. Cabinet ministers said terrorists can only be defeated by attacking them inside Syria. Expect expanded war.

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Iran’s turn awaits. So does Lebanon’s. Replicating what Israel did to Gaza is planned. Turning nations to rubble. Murdering hundreds of thousands of people. Mostly civilians. Targeting them willfully.  Committing horrendous genocidal high crimes against peace. Calling war without mercy liberation.

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It bears repeating what other articles stressed. ISIL is the pretext. Syria is the target. Regime change is the objective.

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Getting most people to believe Big Lies. Mindless of Washington’s imperial objectives. Its plan to redraw the region’s map. Divide, conquer, colonize, plunder, exploit and control. Create instability, chaos, and dystopian harshness. It’s longstanding US policy.

Advancing America’s imperium matters most. So does supporting powerful monied interests.

George Galloway is one of Parliament’s few profiles in courage. He was outnumbered, outgunned and ignored. He was up against hundreds of hawkish MPs.

“What a tangled web we have woven is abundantly clear,” he said. “The mission creep hasn’t even waited for the end of the debate.” Is Syria next, he asked? “There is consensus here there will be boots on the ground. The only question is who’s boots are they?”

“This debate has been characterized by members of Parliament moving around imaginary armies. The Free Syrian Army is a fiction.”

“ISIL itself is an imaginary army…They don’t have any bases” to bomb. “ISIL is a (US created) death cult. It’s a gang of terrorist murderers…It’s not an army. And it’s certainly not (one) that will be destroyed by aerial bombardments.”

“We’ve been bombing Iraqis for 100 years…We dropped the first chemical bombs on them in the 1920s. We helped the Ba’ath party into power. We bombed them again throughout the 90s. Every matter will be made worse” now, Galloway stressed. “Extremism will spread further and deeper around the world just like it did after (Bush/Blair’s) Iraq war.”

“The last people who should be returning to the scene of their former crimes are Britain, France and the United States of America.”

Cameron warned against “rushing to join a conflict without a clear plan.” Cockburn quoted boxer Mike Tyson saying “everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Cameron lied claiming lessons learned from past failures won’t be repeated. Uncontrollable chaos is ignored. So is guaranteed failure.

Activist Larry Pinkney was this writer’s September 25 Progressive Radio News Hour guest. He said history doesn’t repeat. People repeat history. They compound past mistakes with new ones. They make bad situations worse.

Mission creep follows interventions. One quagmire follows others. Billions of dollars are spent waging wars. Vital homeland needs go begging.

“John Kerry’s rhetoric on ISIS insults our intelligence,” saidRobert Fisk. He ignores reality. He substitutes fantasy for facts. His “attempts to explain America’s crusade against its latest evil enemy are so awful, they are addictive.”

His lame explanation reflects “sheer infantilisme (infantalism),” said Fisk. “(T)he French word captures it best.” Fisk dared readers to wade through Kerry’s “claptrap (below) without a snort of disbelief.”

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“The last people who should be returning to the scene of their former crimes are Britain, France and the United States of America.”

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It’s painful reading. Kerry finds new ways to embarrass himself.

To disgrace the office he holds. To display his incompetence. His sheer arrogance. His lawlessness.

In testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, he said “I want to make sure that by the time we’re done here today, I’ve heard from you.”

“I know what you’re thinking, and you’ve heard from me and you know what we’re thinking, what the administration is thinking, and that you have a clear understanding of what it is that we have done so far, of how we see this and how, hopefully, we can come to see it together, what we’re doing now and of where we go next.”

“It was all very complex, (and will) be remembered for a very long time.”

Kerry represents Obama’s fantasy world, said Fisk. He does so in a “clod-hopping, schoolboy way…”  Anyone familiar with Syria knows so-called anti-Assad “moderate” elements don’t exist. The Free Syrian Army is more fantasy than real. Syrian soldiers say they’re happy to fight FSA elements because they always run away.

In contrast, Islamic State/Nusra Front/Al Qaeda et al extremists “fight to the death,” said Fisk.  “Kerry is an ornate chateau of his own imagination,” Fisk stressed. So is Cameron. Both officials reflect false self-confidence, lawlessness, might over right, and contempt for humanity.

Big Lies dot their rhetoric. Cameron prepared a laundry list. It includes four measures.  He lied claiming intervening in Iraq again will avoid past failures. They’re “ragbag” notions, said Cockburn.

They’re “high on (false) moral tone.” They’re “short on specificity.” They’re warmed over Blair failures. They blame others for Western crimes. They commit Britain to war without end. They ignore resolving conflicts diplomatically. They assure mission creep, quagmire and failure.

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They guarantee enormous human suffering. Civilians suffer most in all wars. Hundreds of thousands may perish before current Middle East conflicts end. Maybe millions.  This time won’t be different. Don’t expect Cameron to explain. Or Obama. Or Kerry. Or others supporting America’s killing machine.

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On September 24, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrovaddressed Security Council members. He did so regarding terrorism threatening international peace and security, saying:

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It’s “been growing stronger ideologically and financially and expanding through a connection with transnational organized crime, support from the drug business, seized oil deposits and extremist ideas, including ideas on religious and ethnic grounds.”

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It’s “becoming an indivisible part of regional conflicts.” IS and likeminded groups infest Middle East countries. They threaten “the future of whole nations, as evidenced by the examples of Iraq, Libya and Syria. The next targets are Lebanon, Yemen, Mali and the Central African Republic.”

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Russia “consistently advocate(s) closer international cooperation” against them. Washington’s regional interventions assure worse than ever ahead.

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Russia “propose(d) convening a representative UN-sponsored forum of all countries in the region, the African Union, the Arab League, the permanent UN Security Council members and other concerned parties.”

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Agenda issues should include older conflicts,” said Lavrov. Key is resolving Israel’s longstanding war on Palestine responsibly. Failure to do so “is one of the main reasons why terrorists continue to receive ‘moral support’ and recruit new members,” Lavrov stressed.

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Russia urges examining “the deep roots of regional problems rather than deal(ing) only with their symptoms.”

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“We are willing to cooperate on an equal basis, starting with an honest cooperative analysis to identify the reasons behind the problems and to find a way out of this chaos.”  Washington consistently blocks diplomatic conflict resolution efforts. Doing so advances its imperial objectives.

They require inventing enemies when none exist. Permanent wars. Ones without mercy. Mass slaughter and destruction.

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Turning nations into rubble. Instability. Insecurity. Chaos. Mayhem. Devastation. Unconscionable human misery. US-led Western crusaders are at it again. Millions of lost lives don’t matter. Twisted logic gets most Americans to support what’s vital to stop.

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Washington supports some of the world’s most ruthless despots. It wages war on independent nations. Against any opposing its agenda. Iraq’s Al-Malaki wasn’t convenient stooge enough. His refusal to join Obama’s war on Syria alone sealed his fate. His ties to Iran. Other policies he pursued opposite America’s regional agenda. He had to go. Fuad Masum replaced him.

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He’s Washington’s man in Baghdad. He’ll remain so as long as he remembers who’s boss. The same goes for other regional leaders. They’re some of the world’s most ruthless regimes. Saudi Arabia is Exhibit A. James Petras calls it “a repugnant kingdom…”

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It “routinely decapitates its prisoners in public without any judicial process” whatever. Torture is official policy. So is ruthlessness writ large. Atrocities are commonplace. Corporal punishment is longstanding policy. Whipping police flog anyone outside during prayer times. IS decapitations pale in comparison to Saudi ones. In August alone, “Riyadh beheaded fourteen prisoners,” said Petras.

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“Since the beginning of the year, the Saudi monarchy has decapitated more than 46 prisoners and chopped off the arms and limbs of many more.”

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During Obama and Kerry’s recent Riyadh visit, “horrendous decapitations were displayed in public.” Media scoundrels ignore KIngdom atrocities. Washington’s regional agenda alone matters. Bombing Syria conceals its real objectives. Hype substitutes for reality. IS, Nusra Front, Al Qaeda and likeminded groups are America’s shock troops against Assad.

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Bombing began Monday night local time. It continues intensely daily. Targets include vital Syrian infrastructure, its northern oil fields, and empty buildings.  CNN said IS fighters may have been tipped off days in advance. They evacuated buildings they occupied.

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They dispersed. They’re largely unscathed. Washington planned it this way. Expect nothing different going forward. Official reports feature Big Lies. Media Scoundrels repeat them. Their information is polar opposite truth. World leaders know what’s going on. So can anyone taking the trouble to find out.

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Britain joined Washington’s crusade. So did Australia, Belgium and the Netherlands. So far they’re confining their belligerence to Iraq. London and Paris don’t rule out attacking Syria. On Friday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey said Obama may establish a no-fly zone over Northeastern Syria.

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To protect civilians from Syrian airstrikes, they said. Security Council authorization is required. It’s not forthcoming. Russia and China will block it. It doesn’t matter. Washington operates lawlessly. Its bombing campaign aims to oust Assad. Expect Britain, France and other NATO allies to join its crusade. Expect war winds to reach gale force.

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Rogue states operate this way. State terrorism is official US policy. So is war on humanity. World peace hangs by a thread.