What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

USA strikes Syria again

M

moose eater

One respected investigative journalist, whose report was forwarded to me from Europe by an ex-pat acquaintance, focused on dissecting the words of a well-circulated msm reporter. The journalist noted that in the reporter's writing, the reporter was treating the alleged chemical weapons attacks as a proven reality (who, why, what, where, etc.) and even within that report, the reporter presenting the story of the U.S. wearing white hats and saving the world once again, acknowledged that NO REPORTERS OR JOURNALISTS HAD BEEN ALLOWED INTO DOUMA to verify first-hand, -any- of the lingering questions or to interview survivors or witnesses at that time..

Hmmmmm...

IOW, "Something big here happened, and we want you to take our word for it. And no, you may not access the area, or ask any questions beyond those directed to the talking heads who represent the Powers that Be. And trust us. Would -we- lie to you???!!!!!"

Again... Hmmmm..
 
M

moose eater

A couple of lengthy tidbits from alternative and fairly well respected journalists in the U.S., by way of a former U.S. citizen now living in France..

Note they're dated April 12, in both cases.

-----------------------------


April 12, 2018
Paul Craig Roberts
Here is “Mad Dog” Mattis, the US Secretary of War, stating that he has no evidence that there was a chemical weapons attack in Syria last week, but that he personally believes that there was one.

I remember when a person who claimed to believe something for which there was no evidence was either a religious fanatic or an ideologue. No serious person would express a conviction when there was no evidence to support it.


This raises questions as to Mattis’ fitness for office. He is prepared to lead the US into war with Russia based on nothing but his belief. This is insanity.


Even a low grade moron, which appears to be above the intelligence level of the current US Secretary of War, understands that Syria would not, within a few hours of its liberation of the Syrian people of Douma, have used chemical weapons against the civilian population for which its soldiers were dying in order to liberate.


According to RT, the Organization for the prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is on its way to inspect the site. I had read that the US had vetoed allowing an investigation. According to RT, the OPCW is only permitted by Washinton to determine whether any chemical weapons were used, not, if they were, by who. If the OPCW can be pressured to say evidence of chemical weapons use was found, Washington will seize on that as proof that Syria did it.


As the former head of the OPCW has made clear, the organization is not independent of Washington’s control. It is supposed to be independent but is not. Jose Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat who was Director-General of the OPCW reports that he was ordered to resign by John Bolton, the dangerous neoconservative warmonger who is currently National Secruity Adviser to President Trump. Bustani pointed out to Bolton that he was appointed by the OPCW member states, not by the US, and refused to resign. Here is Bolton’s reply: “OK, so there will be retaliation. Prepare to accept the consequences. We know where your kids are.” https://www.rt.com/usa/423477-bolton-threat-opcw-iraq/


This is American diplomacy at work. It is based entirely on lies, bribes, threats, coercion, murder. Remember the State Department official who told the president of Pakistan, do as I say now or we will bomb you into the stone age?


Bolton had Bustani voted out. The members of the OPCW preferred their Washington subsidies to being an honest organization.

It makes no sense for Russia to rely on “international organizations” that are under Washington’s control.

It makes no sense for Russia to rely on common sense in the West. There is no common sense anywhere in the West. If the West had common sense, the West would not be sending a flotilla to attack Russian and Syrian forces.


It makes no sense for Russia to speak about their “American partners.” No such partner exists. Russia has only American enemies.


The neoconservatives who control US foreign policy have stated it clearly in their declaration that the principle goal of US foreign policy is to prevent the rise of Russia and any other country that could serve as a constraint on US unilateralism. The neoconservatives have made it abundantly clear that Russia has to go. It is dangerous for Russia to disregard such a clear warning. Yet when I am interviewed by Russian media, the journalists are perplexed by “neoconservative.” What is that, they ask.


How can it be that Russian journalists are unaware that the powerful interest group whose most warmonger member, John Bolton, sits as Trump’s right-hand man, has marked Russia for vassalage, conquest, or annihilation? A country this uninformed hasn’t much survival potential.

---------------------------------------------------------

And…..
---------------------------------------------------------

This is propaganda that Joseph Goebbels would be proud of. In a paradigm where six corporations monopolize nearly 90% of the information and news we consume as a society, conditioning the public through false narratives and talking points sans third party authentication has become the linchpin of mainstream media.
Apr 12, 2018

“To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” ~ Opening sentence of the United Nations Charter

If you are not paying attention to the unfolding crisis that is occurring in the Middle East, now is the time to focus like a laser on the unfolding tragedy that is taking place in Syria. There is a reason I cited the charter of the United Nations to lead off this article. The UN was established to prevent armed conflicts and act as a bulwark against another global conflagration. Humanity learned our lesson after witnessing the ravages wrought by the first and second world wars; nations throughout the world rallied to the flag of peace so that future generations could live in co-existence.


If only reality matched the rhetoric of dream sellers. We did not learn a lesson as much as we got lulled into complacency; the horrors of WWI and WWII receded to the back of our minds as periods of national prosperity made us forget what happens when madmen lead humanity into conflicts. The UN gave a legal framework for greater nations to declare wars on lesser nations and loosen blitzkriegs upon governments who refuse to comply to the wishes of globalist empires in ways Hitler would be proud of.

We are witnessing the real life enactment of the book “Animal Farm” as boars who have accumulated unimaginable fortunes dispense laws for others that they themselves never follow.


The brazen abrogations of justice is reaching a fever pitch; we are being driven to the brink of our collective extinction because some would prefer humanity’s liquidation if that means they can forgo relinquishing a fraction of their riches and influence. For too long, we have led our lives divorced from the realities of omnipresent wars that keep being declared for the sake of money and global eminence. What is taking place in Syria should serve as our wake up call; we are one bad decision or one miscalculation away from the age of Armageddon. A prophetic war is pixelating before our very eyes; Syria has turned into a geopolitical battlefield that threatens to engulf the world in a hailstorm of bombs and bullets while we are busy bickering about politics and petty differences.


I’m not writing this to be hyperbolic; our planet has been living with the sword of Damocles hanging over all of our heads ever since the USSR joined the United States in the rush to attain the nuclear domination. For a long time, the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D) held a planetary carnage at bay. MAD has been relegated to the sideline by lunatics who are openly advocating a war with Russia that could pave the way for the annihilation of billions of people around the world. The unthinkable often happens when the public is checked out and not paying attention. In the past, the unthinkable were wars that took millions of lives around the world; this time around, the unthinkable could be nuclear tipped ICBMs criss-crossing continents and landing at our doorsteps.


Now is a time that demands leadership and saner voices to speak out; to the contrary, mainstream media keeps trotting out a procession of warmongers who are pressing the case to “confront Russia”. This latest drumbeat for war is based on the imputation that Assad used chemical weapons on his own people. I don’t write this to defend the despot from Damascus nor am I casting Putin as a hero. However, I know a rush to war when I see it. Corporate journalists and media personalities are jumping the gun and selling the notion that Assad deployed chlorine gas on the town of Douma.


Why he would do so when the Syrian army is on the brink of defeating the rebels and in the process risk international retaliation is beyond comprehension. But who has time for a logical assessment of facts when there is a war to be had. In breakneck fashion, a charge was leveled by British and American authorities only to be run up the flagpole by an ever pliant corporate media as a fait accompli before any work was done to independently validate what government officials are asserting.


A rush to judgement has been replaced by a full sprint to war. The lies that led us into the Iraq War of aggression seem like Nuremberg trails by comparison. At least Bush and company pretended to build a case before they launched Tomahawks in the direction of Baghdad and unleashed hell on a nation that never attacked us. Now they don’t even bother to substantiate charges before they present claims as ‘slam dunk’ facts. A few pictures and a blind quote or two are all that are needed for corporate journalists to run to hot mics and live cameras and spew propaganda into the public square.


The New York Times published a lead story with the headline “Dozens Suffocate in Syria as Government Is Accused of Chemical Attack”. In the story, Ben Hubbard substantiates US and UK government positions as he notes the “latest Syria atrocity” by accompanying his story with moving pictures of dead Syrian children. Buried deep in the story is this one interesting nugget:

“It was not possible to independently verify the reports because Douma is surrounded by Syrian government forces, which prevent access by journalists, aid workers and investigators.” ~ Ben Hubbard

In other words, Mr. Hubbard is admitting that he did not independently verify the charges that Assad used chemical weapons even though the article uses bold 36 point font to present allegations as gospel truths. This is propaganda that Joseph Goebbels would be proud of. In a paradigm where six corporations monopolize nearly 90% of the information and news we consume as a society, conditioning the public through false narratives and talking points sans third party authentication has become the linchpin of mainstream media. A free-press is supposed to check power and investigate all angles before they confer legitimacy to government pronouncement. That was so 20th century ago; we live in an age where journalists record and report without doing any legwork to corroborate what is being told to them.


This is a most perilous development. Without a truly independent and credible media, governmental excesses and institutional corruption become a menace to society. A defanged fourth estate has become the lapdogs of the corporate-federal complex. We should really be leery of where all this is headed, while we are debating the childish antics of Donald Trump and getting spun up into collective derangement, away from the public eye we are slowly being marched into a potential war that could lead to humanity’s final dissolution. It is instructive to look back in history to realize where we are headed.


All wars are fought through pretexts. The Spanish-American War was initiated after the public was driven into hysteria as yellow journalists led the charge that Spain sunk the USS Maine. Reporters did not bother to fact check or certify what was being told by authorities. They ran one story after another establishing that Spaniards killed Americans. Within short order, war broke out between two global powers that took the lives of countless thousands from Cuba to the Philippines and beyond. Long after the last shot was fired, George W. Melville—a Naval chief engineer—noted that the sinking of the USS Maine was caused by a combustion within the hull of the boat and was not caused by a mine as claimed by bureaucrats and reporters alike.


The propaganda that rushed the United States into a war with Spain is not so much an outlier as it is a running theme of wars throughout history. The Vietnam War was initiated through another concocted narrative; a lie that the North Vietnamese sunk the USS Maddox was used to justify a war that would end up taking the lives of 58,220 Americans and millions of Vietnamese civilians and combatants. We have been in a continuous state of war for more than 50 years, each time a bomb goes boom overseas, big bucks are counted by the unholy axis of corporations and federated institutions. Major General Smedley Butler—the most heavily decorated Marine in history—noted that war is always a racket. This next racket could end up wrecking life as we know it.


This weekend, I met a former Naval intelligence officer who lost his leg in action while serving overseas. Forced into retirement because of poor health conditions, he now works at a fast food diner in Marlow Heights, Maryland. Tony told me about his reverence for the Navy and I told him about my father who served in the Ethiopian Navy and how my dad’s visit to America through the Naval Exchange program became the pathway for our eventual migration to America. I talked to Tony for nearly two hours that day as he recounted the challenges he faces after an RPG took his limb, shattered his spleen and ravaged his cognitive abilities. Tony’s short term memory is limited severely, he remembers events and moments from the past but forgets day to day details. He told me at the end of our conversation that he was grateful for the conversation but that he would forget our exchange when he wakes up the next day. This is the hell of war plutocrats, politicians and pundits rarely mention as they bang war drums.


These issues are personal for me for a lot of reasons. My own father was a veteran as was his father Million Tedla who fought with valor and distinction against Mussolini’s savage military in Ethiopia during World War II. I’ve always had a deep reverence for men and women who put on the uniform to serve their nation for these reasons. This reverence was only heightened during my two year journey of hardship and adversity. I’ve befriended countless veterans (watch video at the bottom of this article) as I shuffled in and out of missions and homeless shelters. To this day, it is a source of great consternation and a grief that weighs deeply on my heart when I see veterans on sidewalks asking for change after they gave all to their nation.


For the record, my aim in this is not to be anti-American nor is my intention to take sides in this ongoing geopolitical game of power projection. I love America with all my heart and will forever be grateful for this blessed land that gave me shelter when my birthplace Ethiopia was overrun with Marxists the same year I was born. However, my primary allegiance as a journalist is not to a nation but to truth and justice. Nationalism should not be bigger than humanity; we can have a modicum of peace and coexistence if we let love instead of greed be the moral compass of mankind. War is a necessary evil only because we lack the imagination to share the resources of the world instead of letting a few hoard the wealth for themselves. Our blind acceptance of war and the authorities who push them is threatening our very existence.


War is hell for all involved except for the few who profit through it. As technology evolves, we become more and more disconnected from the horrors of conflicts. This time around, a war that is being ginned up between world powers could very well spell the doom for life as we know it. Albert Einstein noted that he doesn’t know with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. Humanity is at the brink as each day brings us closer to the final hour. For the sake of our children and future generations, I pray that saner minds take charge so that we can avoid a war that will bring untold sorrow and a global holocaust to mankind.


---------------------End -------------------
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
eastern Ghouta is fully liberated and back under government control. you can get in, you just need a visa and those press sources that played the information warrior role against the Syrian government are not welcome back of course. check this out from an American who's on the ground in Damascus.

[YOUTUBEIF]w-iV1G4OT3g[/YOUTUBEIF]
 
Last edited:
M

moose eater

With what amounts to an 8k dial-up connection speed, I'm not able to down-load or play video, etc., without it taking a LONG time to load and buffer.

What's the gist of the video report above?

Thanks.
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
With what amounts to an 8k dial-up connection speed, I'm not able to down-load or play video, etc., without it taking a LONG time to load and buffer.

What's the gist of the video report above?

Thanks.


that the western media is painting a false picture of this conflict pretty much from A to Z, but this guy was saying and showing how Syrians in Damascus are happy and live normally mostly and that they want to be friends with the US not enemies, but most importantly they were all telling him to the point where he seemed convinced that they love Assad and are not afraid of living under his rule. he also points out that you can go to Syria as a journalist and he spoke about doing an investigation of the alleged chem weapon attack in Douma. he was there last night on the outskirts of Damascus in bed when the strikes began. thats about it.

the first video is a break down of what air bases and what other facilities were attacked, how many missiles were shot at each object, how many they intercepted and how many got through as well as what types of weapons were used from what platforms, mostly tomahawks, but some British air to ground missiles too and some bomb, and last but not least he said the interception was done by the Syrians them selves using s125, s200, buk, and pansir air defense systems and that Russia was watching every missile and none of them came near to their facilities so no interceptions were launched by their s300 and s400. last thing the Russian general says is that a few years ago the US asked them not to sell Syria the s300, which they had been about to do, they didnt do so, but will re evaluate the situation following these attacks.

me now: attacks which were illegal according to international law lets be honest. not saying it's all true, just what the Russian army chief is saying, i always like to get all sides to a story.
 
Last edited:
M

moose eater

Thanks gaius, for taking the time to reply to that inquiry.. That's pretty much what many of the independent journalists I've read are saying as well.

Whether making mountains of mole hills at the beginning of the Spanish American War, or the BS that was put forth to the gullible media following the Gulf of Tonkin, or the Iraqi WMDs where Saddam's son-in-law had told the interrogators after he defected that the WMD and nuke programs in Iraq had been decimated already, long before the last invasion, or a hundred other moments of spin applied by those who profit from this shit, our steeped-in-nationalist-BS media, those blinded by red, white, and blue flags sewn in China, and lemming-like general public have been more than willing to swallow lies upon lies in the name of a distorted image of Betsy Ross, whose persona has been hijacked by Neo-Cons, Neo-Libs, and, in general, corporatist puppets who ought to be brought up on charges of treason, not decorated, re-elected, or honored.

Mass murderers passing themselves off as some sort of John Wayne-esque Cowboys.

Funny how mineral extraction tends to figure into so many of these incursions, where our media paints the locals as the 'insurgents.' Which makes us.. what?

Socially conscious anarchy and statelessness are under-rated, in my opinion.

that the western media is painting a false picture of this conflict pretty much from A to Z, but this guy was saying and showing how Syrians in Damascus are happy and live normally mostly and that they want to be friends with the US not enemies, but most importantly they were all telling him to the point where he seemed convinced that they love Assad and are not afraid of living under his rule. he also points out that you can go to Syria as a journalist and he spoke about doing an investigation of the alleged chem weapon attack in Douma. he was there last night on the outskirts of Damascus in bed when the strikes began. thats about it.

the first video is a break down of what air bases and what other facilities were attacked, how many missiles were shot at each object, how many they intercepted and how many got through as well as what types of weapons were used from what platforms, mostly tomahowks, but some British air to ground missiles too and some bomb, and last but not least he said the interception was done by the Syrians them selves using s125, s200, buk, and pansir aur defense systems and that Russia was watching every missile and none of them came near to their facilities so no interceptions were launched by their s300 and s400. last thing the Russian general says is that a few years ago the US asked them not to sell Syria the s300, which they had been about to do, they didnt do so, but will re evaluate the situation following these attacks.

me now: attacks which were illegal according to international law lets be honest. not saying it's all true, just what the Russian army chief is saying, i always like to get all sides to a story.
 
M

moose eater

It's occasionally piqued my thoughts, re. other parts of the world's perception of our heart, character, and mind-set as a Country. That while we rain down death & destruction, and spin the details before, during, and after, many of our middle and upper-crust folks spend their days with their biggest dilemmas being, "What program do I want to watch?", "Where on earth am I going to put all of these groceries?," "Do I look better in these shoes/slacks/(what ever), or the other?," "Did that person look at me strangely?" or other such utter trivia, that it paints us as truly disassociated, disconnected from reality, or sociopathic in re. to our collective actions abroad; one or the other... Maybe all of the above..
 

Spaventa

...
Veteran
They say Russia wasn't notified. I call bullshit right there. Russian defences would have smoked the missiles AND the planes they came from - Russia OCCUPIES that territory and has superiority - it wouldn't have been a fair fight even. The Russians stood down because Putin is in on it. This is all bullshit. This, the poisoning in England, all of it, rotten as a pear. US has norad or whatever, well Russia also monitors aircraft globally.
 

Easy7

Active member
Veteran
Cruise missiles were designed solely for getting thru Russian air defenses. They can fire from a long ways away.

That is also partly why the F14 carried Phoenix missiles. To target Russian bombers firing cruise missiles at carrier groups.

Cruise missiles fly below the horizon. Because of the curvature of the Earth and with land there is terrain, that all limits radar.

Cruise missiles are under the speed of sound and can be shot down, but by the time you notice they are gone. Unless you spot one from the air, and shoot it down cause you are in a jet behind it.

No word yet that I know of, of how many missiles, or exactly what all was used. There has been some indication, but not a lot of numbers.

Probably safe to say that the US fired weapons (cruise missiles) from protected airspace's. Airspace's that Russia and Syria would of had to expand the conflict to operate within.
 

gaiusmarius

me
Veteran
They say Russia wasn't notified. I call bullshit right there. Russian defences would have smoked the missiles AND the planes they came from - Russia OCCUPIES that territory and has superiority - it wouldn't have been a fair fight even. The Russians stood down because Putin is in on it. This is all bullshit. This, the poisoning in England, all of it, rotten as a pear. US has norad or whatever, well Russia also monitors aircraft globally.

[YOUTUBEIF]Mcvs0fUXezM[/YOUTUBEIF]

looks like they ain't sure them selves if they notified or not, lmao....
 

troutman

Seed Whore
Probably safe to say that the US fired weapons (cruise missiles) from protected airspace's. Airspace's that Russia and Syria would of had to expand the conflict to operate within.

The Russian military said the missiles were fired from US ships in the Red Sea as well as from tactical aircraft above the Mediterranean and by US strategic bombers from near the Al-Tanf base.

France said it fired cruise missiles from frigates in the Mediterranean and deployed fighter jets from home bases as part of its strikes on Syria.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/mosco...ired-at-syria-significant-number-intercepted/
 

Easy7

Active member
Veteran
Or turkey. Turkey is a big piece of the pie and in another chapter at risk of being lost. It can also be a strike zone against Russia.

But anyhow, you have 19.6 seconds from horizon to horizon to watch a cruise missile in a completely flat area. well not flat cause the earth is curved but flat as in no hills or buildings or crap like that.

Not much time to shoot one down.

That is why a lot of nations use saturation air defense. They just fire AAA like crazy all over the place. Spray and pray.
 

Spaventa

...
Veteran
They spent an hour firing over a hundred missiles. Even if you really believe Russia was surprised, they weren't and they had time and they definitely have the means. This is a play of some sort. We can't work it out yet because we are just the canon fodder.

I hope it turns out they were bombing ISIS and not the legitimate government that is fighting ISIS.

The troubling part is Trumps demeanour during the announcement and the fact his lawyer got raided by that pest muller. That don't look good for Trump. If he's owned by war mongers in military industrial complex now, well that would explain this shit too.

If thats the case I guess Putin is in on it because theres no way Russia had no part to play and had no clue. Its as ludicrous as suggesting they use a conspicuous and Russian associated nerve agent to publicly assassinate individuals in politically hostile foreign countries.

Maybe this is it, maybe its our turn. Maybe this get out of hand and WW3 proper. Britain and America will be hit hardest by Russia and China. I think theres a undeniable chance will all be dead soon. Thinking about that, its quite liberating really :)
 

Pinball Wizard

The wand chooses the wizard
Veteran
This gave the Russians good practice on missile tracking.

1. They didn't see shit coming in

2. or they could have knocked those birds down
 
Top