I have, within the last ten minutes, been watching the BBC News - a press conference with the Syrian Foreign Minister.

He categorically denies that the Assad regime has deployed any chemical weapons - and that such an act has not been contemplated against any part of the Syrian population. He further points out that the US has broken off talks with Russia, Syria and other interested parties and has instead gone to a state of military preparedness, without any attempt to find a political solution.

The next item on the news was that the US is going to exceed it's budget allowance by mid-October.

Is there any liklihood that Obama is trying to take the electorate's mind off his record of vast overspending / failure to close Gitmo / failure in Afghanistan / etc,, etc. by starting yet another war? And taking that stupid bald-headed monkey William Hague along with him?

I saw the whole 20 minute conference on TV too.

It was quite good I thought.

As for Obama needing the distraction. Of course he does

Look at what has recently been dripping off his plate

Benghazi cover up, NSA cover up, economy in the toilet, the budget as you say will hit the ceiling yet again & on & on it goes.

As for his so called recent claim of 2 days of punishment.

Who died & elected him God?

It is really embarrassing to be an American under this guys rule.

Lead? he would not know how as he never has.

To use this for some cheap boost at credibility for saying something stupid & now having to back it up,

at the cost of lives he does not even know were involved, is the epitome of his incompetence thus far.

But I am sure he will outdo even this before his term is up.

Sad day for Americans if he goes thru with this knee jerk reaction which has zero concrete evidence of who to punish

It is good though to see he has basically zero American citizens support for this attack.

Obama's fault on Syria is not acting SOONER.

Much less embarrassed with Obama as prez than W. Bush, thank you very much!

Saw plenty of activity this weekend at the world's largest aircraft carrier (albeit permanently moored), namely HMS Akrotiri. Now back in the UK and this morning saw a pair of B52s heading into RAF Fairford, always a good barometer of geopolitical realities.

Looks like the pieces are in place.

The defence department has announced that the mission is a GO. If they are going to do it, I just hope they make it worthwhile and degrade Asad's capabilities in a real way.

Here is Stratfor's take on the events in Syria. Obama's bluff has been called but nobody really knows who called it...including Obama.

I am posting more than three sentences since I have been informed by a moderator that more than that can be posted if the publisher has no objections. Technically the entire article could be posted and NOT be in violation of fair use laws.

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

Obama's Bluff

Geopolitical Weekly

TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2013 - 04:00

Stratfor

By George Friedman

Images of multiple dead bodies emerged from Syria last week. It was asserted that poison gas killed the victims, who according to some numbered in the hundreds. Others claimed the photos were faked while others said the rebels were at fault. The dominant view, however, maintains that the al Assad regime carried out the attack.

Following the article:

Reprinting or republication of this report on websites is authorized by prominently displaying the following sentence, including the hyperlink to Stratfor, at the beginning or end of the report.

"Obama's Bluff is republished with permission of Stratfor."

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/obamas-bluff?utm_source=freelist-f&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20130827&utm_term=Gweekly&utm_content=readmore&elq=5534ea5a52184fc9ac6e2a6bfbd5aaf1

Powell was Secretary of State and bullshitted the UN with pictures allegedly related to WMD. their quality was so bad that they could have shown anything! and that at a time when the cameras of U.S. spy satellites were since years able to make legible pictures of a vehicle's number plate.

i watched the liar live on TV when he presented his rubbish

He is black though so you are not allowed to criticize him.

That may be true, but the real reason you can't criticize these liars and their press toadies is, because they are considered "mainstream". That's right, mass murder, whole sectors of the economy that profit from it, are now the "status quo". To wage peace or suggest moderation is heresy and "fringe thinking" now because there's no money in it.

A leader leads, popular or not.

That's true and was the very argument I made, which you poo pooed, concerning the Obama administrations inability to enact Universal Healthcare.

I think it is also true that good leaders lead those they are responsible to AWAY from disastrous outcomes.

Architect of Syria War Plan Doubts Surgical Strikes Will Work

Posted By John Hudson Monday, August 26, 2013 - 6:29 PM

The United States appears to be closer than ever to deploying a series of surgical strikes on Syrian targets. But a key architect of that strategy is seriously and publicly questioning the wisdom of carrying it out.

In the last 48 hours, U.S. officials leaked plans to several media outlets to fire cruise missiles at Syrian military installations as a warning to the Syrian government not to use its chemical weapons stockpiles again. On Sunday, Sen. Bob Corker, who was briefed by administration officials twice over the weekend, said a U.S. "response is imminent" in Syria. "I think we will respond in a surgical way," he said. On Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to set the groundwork for a U.S. military incursion.

Now, a former U.S. Navy planner responsible for outlining an influential and highly-detailed proposal for surgical strikes tells The Cable he has serious misgivings about the plan. He says too much faith is being put into the effectiveness of surgical strikes on Assad's forces with little discussion of what wider goals such attacks are supposed to achieve.

http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/26/architect_of_syria_war_plan_doubts_surgical_strikes_will_work

Powell was Secretary of State and bullshitted the UN with pictures allegedly related to WMD. their quality was so bad that they could have shown anything! and that at a time when the cameras of U.S. spy satellites were since years able to make legible pictures of a vehicle's number plate.

i watched the liar live on TV when he presented his rubbish

He is black though so you are not allowed to criticize him.

That may be true, but the real reason you can't criticize these liars and their press toadies is, because they are considered "mainstream". That's right, mass murder, whole sectors of the economy that profit from it, are now the "status quo". To wage peace or suggest moderation is heresy and "fringe thinking" now because there's no money in it.

Powell did the right thing later and "fessed up" as opposed to the real war mongers Cheney and Rumsfeld.

The defence department has announced that the mission is a GO. If they are going to do it, I just hope they make it worthwhile and degrade Asad's capabilities in a real way.

Take away the advantage and let the natives fight it out for themselves?

I'd rather not see boots on the ground but I think I will. If we, as in humanity, don't make sure the chemical weapons are secured then we will find ourselves in the same position we were and are with Iraq. Did Saddam have chemical weapons? Yes, we know he did because the US and UK sold them to him. Did we find any? No. We managed to stop a few shipments being exported but not much so where is the rest? Do we really want to let such pathogens of destruction disseminate to all and sundry?

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Action Plan to Prevent Genocide 2004

Last Friday, the United Nations Emergency Relief Co-ordinator reported to the Security Council that a sequence of deliberate actions has been observed that seem aimed at achieving a specific objective: the forcible and long-term displacement of the targeted communities, which may also be termed ethnic cleansing. His assessment was based on reports from our international staff on the ground in Darfur, who have witnessed first-hand what is happening there, and from my own Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, Ambassador Vraalsen who has visited Darfur.

Mr. Chairman, such reports leave me with a deep sense of foreboding. Whatever terms it uses to describe the situation, the international community cannot stand idle.

http://www.preventgenocide.org/prevent/UNdocs/KofiAnnansActionPlantoPreventGenocide7Apr2004.htm

48 hours I'd say before the world takes action.

If Obama does Al Qaeda's work for it, he loses all the credibility he has left. Yes, Al Qaeda are the mainspring of one of the rebel groups, all of whom would profit from a strike against Assad.

Yes also, he has an obligation to act against the users of chemical weapons, but wouldn't it be best to be sure who they are before pressing the button? And ensuring that he is not helping the declared enemies of his country?

Kerry did say that the US had information which had not been made public which leads them to believe that Assad was responsible. True, or wishful thinking?

duplicate post

Kerry did say that the US had information which had not been made public which leads them to believe that Assad was responsible. True, or wishful thinking?

Burnt hands. Look at Iraq.. People all over focus on not finding any chemical weapons but forget that both the US and UK sold them to him.

I have, within the last ten minutes, been watching the BBC News - a press conference with the Syrian Foreign Minister.

He categorically denies that the Assad regime has deployed any chemical weapons - and that such an act has not been contemplated against any part of the Syrian population. He further points out that the US has broken off talks with Russia, Syria and other interested parties and has instead gone to a state of military preparedness, without any attempt to find a political solution.

The next item on the news was that the US is going to exceed it's budget allowance by mid-October.

Is there any liklihood that Obama is trying to take the electorate's mind off his record of vast overspending / failure to close Gitmo / failure in Afghanistan / etc,, etc. by starting yet another war? And taking that stupid bald-headed monkey William Hague along with him?

"Stupid bald-headed monkey". Harsh but fair Humphrey! But wait ---! Breaking news! William (15 pints a night Hague) has agreed to lead the charge in Syria. Here he is doing his basic training!

http://i.imgur.com/IyklF5b.jpg

Kerry did say that the US had information which had not been made public which leads them to believe that Assad was responsible. True, or wishful thinking?

Burnt hands. Look at Iraq.. People all over focus on not finding any chemical weapons but forget that both the US and UK sold them to him.

Assad would have been an idiot² using chemical weapons and invite foreign intervention and assistance of the "rebels".

Kerry, Cameron, Hague, Fabius and recently Merkel must consider their citizens being idiots believing the nonsense they propagate.

second thoughts... perhaps some (who knows how many?) of their citizens are idiots?

Kerry did say that the US had information which had not been made public which leads them to believe that Assad was responsible. True, or wishful thinking?

true without any doubt!

look at the wording "info which leads them to believe..."

Kerry did say that the US had information which had not been made public which leads them to believe that Assad was responsible. True, or wishful thinking?

Burnt hands. Look at Iraq.. People all over focus on not finding any chemical weapons but forget that both the US and UK sold them to him.

Assad would have been an idiot² using chemical weapons and invite foreign intervention and assistance of the "rebels".

Kerry, Cameron, Hague, Fabius and recently Merkel must consider their citizens being idiots believing the nonsense they propagate.

second thoughts... perhaps some (who knows how many?) of their citizens are idiots?

I would say that 1x 10⁹ power of first world nation's populations would have to be either ignorant or warmongers to want to prosecute war in the Mid East. There is no such thing as "limited" there. Even our friends are enemies.

I have No Comment:

http://www.businessinsider.com/rumsfeld-obama-failed-justify-syria-2013-8

I have No Comment:

http://www.businessinsider.com/rumsfeld-obama-failed-justify-syria-2013-8

I do

This from the article,

“One thing that is very interesting, it seems to me,

is that there really hasn’t been any indication from the

administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation,”

It is because it is not in "our" interest to launch this so called humanitarian

unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.

It is in the interest of the puppeteers who pull our elected presidents strings.

Whether that be ultimately to goad Iran into action & do what they have wanted to do

for over a year now namely bomb Iran also or whether it all once again comes back to oil.

It has nothing to do with chem warfare as they claim.

If it did they would not tell the UN investigators it does not matter who launched it.

Americans abroad are going to need to make a T-shirt that says

Please don't blame me - my governments actions does not represent me.

I have No Comment:

http://www.businessinsider.com/rumsfeld-obama-failed-justify-syria-2013-8

I do

This from the article,

“One thing that is very interesting, it seems to me,

is that there really hasn’t been any indication from the

administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation,”

It is because it is not in "our" interest to launch this so called humanitarian

unprovoked attack on a sovereign nation.

It is in the interest of the puppeteers who pull our elected presidents strings.

Whether that be ultimately to goad Iran into action & do what they have wanted to do

for over a year now namely bomb Iran also or whether it all once again comes back to oil.

It has nothing to do with chem warfare as they claim.

If it did they would not tell the UN investigators it does not matter who launched it.

Americans abroad are going to need to make a T-shirt that says

Please don't blame me - my governments actions does not represent me.

President Obama said yesterday that "There was a prospect that chemical weapons would be launched against us"! Sheer nonsense. This will have a very familiar ring to people in the UK, remember Blair standing up in Parliament stating that Saddam could launch WMDs at the UK in 45 minutes! A desperate bare faced lie in his attempt to justify the invasion of Iraq, and get Parliament onside. Sadly, it worked too. Hopefully these Western leaders have cried wolf once too often, and these crude scaremongering tactics will now be seen for what they are, ie, nonsense. Obama also said, "We've looked at all the evidence and we don't believe the 'opposition' possessed chemical weapons of that sort". So that's it? The evidence? Never mind that UN inspectors back at the beginning of May concluded that the only evidence they had seen led them to believe the 'opposition' had carried out a chemical attack. Also at the end of May 12 members of the Al Qaeda affiliated Al Nusra front were arrested in Turkey with chemical weapons material, ie, four and a half pounds of sarin. Very inconvenient! No wonder the current UN Team are forbidden from investigating who was responsible for the latest attack. This has echos of Hans Blix, the weapons inspector in Iraq who was charged with investigating WMDs in Iraq. When he reported back that there were no WMDs he was promptly removed, and replaced with a more compliant inspector who would come up with the right answer! Our leaders are blatantly lying to us again. They really must think we are gullible fools.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/we-should-have-been-traumatised-into-action-by-this-war-in-2011and-2012but-now-8789506.html

One of the UN inspectors in Iraq - after Hans Blix was sacked - was discussing the subject tonight.

He says that the current UN inspection team will be allowed to speculate on the gas, confirming it's use, judging the quality, etc. - but will not be allowed to speculate on who used it.

Evidently there is a very good 'military' grade, but it is possible to manufacture a poorer grade in your bathroom. I suppose that is the Japanese underground version.

Now, in order to treat attacks from the 'military' grade, the recuers / medics / what have you, need to wear protective hazard suits and need to immediately wash down the victims with copious amounts of water, give atrophine shots and institute other treatments immediately. On the film clips I saw the medics were dressed in shirts and trousers, were splashing a little water in the faces of the victims and very little else. This would tend to indicate (to me) that the Sarin, if such it was, was not military grade. That, coupled with the lack of 'Syrian Free Army' victims, makes me consider a bathtub version of Sarin, made and used by the rebels in order to embarrass Bashir al-Assad and to excite the Americans, giving them an excuse to attack Syria.

But that's just my opinion.

So - no British involvement in any attack on Syria, after Parliament had voted.

Both the government proposition and the opposition amendment were defeated.

A plague on both your houses - in the UK and Syria.

This should be required viewing for the "defend Obama's honor" group chomping at the bomb Syria bit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Han5fgzy4KU&feature=player_embedded#t=0

George Galloway! lol

Not heard anyone say that the chemical signature was actually NOT that of the regime's stock though that does not indicate if it had been stolen by so called rebels. Syria has been and is adamant that no chemical agents have fallen into rebel hands (or anyone's hands for that matter) which leaves me asking where did the said agent with that chemical signature come from?

George Galloway! lol

Not heard anyone say that the chemical signature was actually NOT that of the regime's stock though that does not indicate if it had been stolen by so called rebels. Syria has been and is adamant that no chemical agents have fallen into rebel hands (or anyone's hands for that matter) which leaves me asking where did the said agent with that chemical signature come from?

Where are the rebels getting all their advanced weaponry?

I don't want to defend Syrian govt but to say

"no chemical agents have fallen into rebel hands" does not mean

there is no more in the world to be had.

Will be interesting to hear from the investigators but we will never be privy

to what they would like to tell. That is the whole story

Not just whether or not gas traces are there

But what delivery system etc.

George Galloway! lol

My reaction exactly. The spiritual head of the Bull Goose Looney Party.

I guess I am lucky to not have any preconceived notions about any

UK politicians as I do not usually follow their meetings

Instead I listened to the video & found I agreed with pretty much all this man said.

Then again I am the same way about US politicians.

I ultimately do not care that I may not have always agreed with their past decisions

or what party they are affiliated with.

I care only if what they are saying rings true & displays common sense that benefits

the people they were elected to represent. The people who have spoken & made their choice known

to their representatives.

Not heard anyone say that the chemical signature was actually NOT that of the regime's stock though that does not indicate if it had been stolen by so called rebels. Syria has been and is adamant that no chemical agents have fallen into rebel hands (or anyone's hands for that matter) which leaves me asking where did the said agent with that chemical signature come from?

Where are the rebels getting all their advanced weaponry?

I don't want to defend Syrian govt but to say

"no chemical agents have fallen into rebel hands" does not mean

there is no more in the world to be had.

Will be interesting to hear from the investigators but we will never be privy

to what they would like to tell. That is the whole story

Not just whether or not gas traces are there

But what delivery system etc.

chemical signature

A unique pattern produced by an analytical instrument, such as a spectrometer, indicating the presence of a particular molecule in a test sample.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/chemical+signature

Imagine this on large scale such as DNA. It was announced days ago that what was used had the same chemical signature though to be fair the chemical signature was not revealed as far is I know. Syria's actions speak volumes to me at this point. They earlier said that an offensive had taken place against foreign backed terrorists resulting in a win but when the chemical signature had been matched they said the opposition had killed their own people. I've no data on the chemical signature but I don't have to because Syria simply accepted it was there's, and moved on.

Now humanity looks on at a place in a state of civil war. The Theocrats are rebelling against the dictators in order to install a theocratic dictatorship. Look at Iran for a 101. Should the people of the world get involved to try and reduce the number of people killed. The realist part of me says let them fight it out for themselves while the compassionate part of me says get involved and try to stop the bloodshed. The last part of me goes as thus...

Do we, as a conscious species (which we believe us to be), have a lesser concern for what is to come than we do what is before?

Delivery system I've not heard much about so can't comment.

One of the UN inspectors in Iraq - after Hans Blix was sacked - was discussing the subject tonight.

He says that the current UN inspection team will be allowed to speculate on the gas, confirming it's use, judging the quality, etc. - but will not be allowed to speculate on who used it.

Evidently there is a very good 'military' grade, but it is possible to manufacture a poorer grade in your bathroom. I suppose that is the Japanese underground version.

Now, in order to treat attacks from the 'military' grade, the recuers / medics / what have you, need to wear protective hazard suits and need to immediately wash down the victims with copious amounts of water, give atrophine shots and institute other treatments immediately. On the film clips I saw the medics were dressed in shirts and trousers, were splashing a little water in the faces of the victims and very little else. This would tend to indicate (to me) that the Sarin, if such it was, was not military grade. That, coupled with the lack of 'Syrian Free Army' victims, makes me consider a bathtub version of Sarin, made and used by the rebels in order to embarrass Bashir al-Assad and to excite the Americans, giving them an excuse to attack Syria.

But that's just my opinion.

The suggestion that it was a rebel attack aimed at making the Americans think it was by Assad is the most sensible one I've seen yet. Slightly better bathtub than the Japanese underground attack, though.

The rebels, all three lots of them, probably want the US to attack Assad. It would weaken his regime, and strengthen them. Assad would retaliate, but where? Well, Israel is the obvious target. It's nearby, and all the other Arab states would cheer. Then the far more effective Israeli military takes a hand, and everybody who can runs for cover.

Thank God we're a long way away in Thailand.