Exclusive: Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof has cultivated a reputation as a caring humanitarian who abhors violence, but he has now joined the ranks of liberal war hawks eager to bomb Syria, a choice that also has led him to enlist…
Human Rights, Lost History, Media, Obama Administration, Politics, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
Is War on Syria Veering Off-Script?
When the U.S. government readies for war, there is a well-worn script. A “bad” guy is defined; some act of perfidy is alleged despite murky evidence; politicians and journalists express righteous outrage; a confused public is dragged along. Except that…
Constitution, Human Rights, Intelligence, Media, Obama Administration, Politics, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
Congress Denied Syrian Facts, Too
Exclusive: While seeking authority for a limited war with Syria, the Obama administration withheld from the American people the U.S. intelligence on the alleged chemical weapons attack of Aug. 21, amid assurances that Congress got all the secret details. But…
Obama Warned on Syrian Intel
Exclusive: Despite the Obama administration’s supposedly “high confidence” regarding Syrian government guilt over the Aug. 21 chemical attack near Damascus, a dozen former U.S. military and intelligence officials are telling President Obama that they are picking up information that undercuts the Official Story.
Obama’s Syrian ‘Doomsday Machine’
Exclusive: By setting in motion a possibly catastrophic plan to bomb Syria, President Obama has created what amounts to a “doomsday machine” that could detonate if not disarmed by a breakthrough on peace talks. Obama is gambling that Saudi opposition to negotiations…
The Value of Consortiumnews
From Editor Robert Parry: Over the past two weeks, as the U.S. government lurched toward a war against Syria, the mainstream U.S. news media fell dutifully in line much as it did a decade ago over the invasion of Iraq. But…
Israel Lobby Backs Bombing Syria
President Obama’s limited war resolution against Syria cleared its initial congressional hurdle on a 10-7 vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but its overall chances got a bigger boost from an endorsement by the powerful Israel Lobby, as ex-CIA analyst…
US Journalists and War Crime Guilt
From the Archive: With few exceptions, mainstream U.S. news personalities are again selling war to the American people, this time on Syria by asserting false certainty on who launched the Aug. 21 chemical weapons strike and pretending the Syrian government not…
All Scrubbed Up, Nowhere to Show
Exclusive: Two weeks after an apparent chemical attack in Syria, the Obama administration continues to tout its “scrubbed and rescrubbed” intelligence as proving that the Syrian government is to blame. But not a single piece of verifiable evidence has been…
The Still-Sketchy Intel on Syria
Exclusive: In the mainstream U.S. news media, the bomb-Syria debate is focusing on how the politics might play out and what may happen after the expected U.S. missile strike, having brushed past lingering doubts about the sketchy intelligence regarding the Aug.…
Hypocritical Righteousness on Syria
Secretary of State John Kerry waxed eloquent about the need to punish national leaders who violate international law. He meant Syria’s Bashar al-Assad but his lecture could have applied to American officials who enabled the invasion of Iraq, including himself, just one…
Constitution, Human Rights, Intelligence, Lost History, Media, Obama Administration, Politics, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
Should We Fall Again for ‘Trust Me’?
Exclusive: Forgetting lessons from the Tonkin Gulf to the Iraq War, the U.S. news media has mostly elbowed past doubts about whether the Syrian government launched the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack and now is focused on the political drama…
Constitution, Human Rights, Intelligence, Obama Administration, Politics, The Bush-43 Administration
Putting a Rush to War on Pause
By seeking congressional approval before bombing Syria, President Obama may have recognized a political reality the danger from pressing ahead unilaterally on a risky mission but the move also offers a valuable breather in the hasty rush to war, as…
Understanding the Syrian Civil War
With President Obama asking Congress to back a military strike to punish Syria for alleged chemical weapons use, the U.S. is lurching toward a new war. Beyond doubts about what happened and whether a U.S. missile attack will help, there is scant public understanding…
Getting Syria-ous About Peace Talks
Exclusive: President Obama’s decision to seek congressional approval before attacking Syria may represent a needed breather, slowing Official Washington’s stampede into another war, but the only way to stop the bloodshed is to get the various sides into peace talks…
The Risk from Distorting Intelligence
The Obama administration’s emotional reaction to the alleged chemical attack in Syria may be understandable given the human toll, but the high-level clamor for action put pressure on intelligence analysts assessing the evidence. It also could have distorted their judgments, as ex-CIA analyst…
Ignoring Bloody Mideast Lessons
The Obama administration appears blind to the history that when U.S. officials have lashed out in anger at Middle East adversaries, the consequences have usually been bad and bloody. The Iraq War is an obvious cautionary tale but so too…
Obama’s Flailing Mideast Strategy
Not only has the Obama administration presented no hard evidence to support its charge that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, President Obama’s plan to retaliate with cruise missiles in violation of international law suggests a Mideast strategy in disarray,…
A Dodgy Dossier on Syrian War
Exclusive: President George W. Bush misled the world on Iraq’s WMD, but Bush’s bogus case for war at least had details that could be checked, unlike what the Obama administration released Friday on Syria’s alleged chemical attacks no direct quotes, no…
An Appeal to Gen. Dempsey on Syria
Gen. Martin Dempsey, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, has spoken soberly about the dangers from any military strike on Syria, but press reports indicate President Obama is still set on launching cruise missiles in the coming days, an action that former U.S. intelligence professionals say should prompt…