War with Syria and Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iran

BY ED FELIEN

About 50 demonstrators gathered in front of the Federal Building in downtown Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 26, to protest the continued escalation of military activity in the Middle East.

They chanted:
WE’VE SEEN THIS ALL BEFORE,
SAME STORY, DIFFERENT WAR!

Linda Hoover, one of the speakers at the rally, said, “The New York Times has confirmed that the CIA has folks on the ground in Syria. Global Research in Canada reports that the CIA has trained about 6,000 people, mostly Arabs, Afghans and Turks, to commit terrorist acts in Syria to make it look like a popular revolt against the government. Vatican News reports that ethnic cleansing is taking place as atrocities are committed against Christians by U.S. and NATO supported rebels.”

“We, along with 78% of Americans, oppose sending troops to Syria,” Hoover said. “Yet, Democrat and Republican politicians continue to beat the war drums. Who would call that democracy?”

Congressman Keith Ellison sounded the Obama Administration line when he said in an op-ed piece in the Star-Tribune: “The international community has a responsibility to protect innocent populations from mass atrocities when repeated diplomatic efforts fail.” He admits, “It is true that establishing a safe zone on the border of Syria involves significant risk. What if the Syrian army targets the safe zone? What if Assad blocks refugees’ access to it? How long should the safe zone exist? And who should pay for it?”

Yes, it is certainly true that establishing “safe zones” “involves significant risk,” especially if they are being used as staging areas for the CIA to send terrorists and weapons into Syria. And there really is no doubt as to who is paying for the maintenance of the safe zones and who is bankrolling the Syrian Free Army—it’s the CIA.

In his May 6 editorial, Ellison also predicted the current crisis between Turkey and Syria: “We should also be prepared for the possibility of Turkey invoking Article 5 of the NATO treaty, since the Syrian army has fired into Turkish territory.” Since that statement, Syria has shot down a Turkish spy plane that was clearly in Syrian territory. Turkey is continuing to send spy planes into Syria and is insisting on its right to violate Syria’s territory.

The New York Times has reported: “Turkish Army vehicles delivered antitank weaponry to the border, where it was then smuggled into Syria. Turkey has repeatedly denied it was extending anything other than humanitarian aid to the opposition, mostly via refugee camps near the border.” Quoting Syrian anti-government rebels, the Times said, “The United States, these activists said, was consulted about these weapons transfers.”

Clearly, the U.S. is sponsoring armed incursions to provoke a war with Syria and lying to the American people about the extent of that involvement.

The recent massacre of television employees is part of the rebels’ continued attacks on freedom of the press. According to Patrick Cockburn in the June 28 edition of the British journal, The Independent: “The Syrian regime accused opponents of staging a massacre yesterday after insurgents attacked a pro-government television station near Damascus and killed seven employees.”
If the U.S. is supplying arms, money and logistics to rebel troops, then a state of war exists between Syria and the U.S. It is an undeclared war, and, therefore, an illegal and unconstitutional act by the Obama Administration. The U.S.

Constitution says only Congress can declare war. The Obama Administration has acted in violation of the Constitution by supporting violent and belligerent acts against the government of Syria.

Why did Obama get so deeply involved in this regional conflict? Was it so in October he could land on a U.S. battleship off the coast of Syria with a giant sign on the ship saying, “Mission Accomplished?”

Is the tragic loss of life, the pain and the destruction just an election year gimmick?