There is no obvious reason why the Western powers should care whether it was the friends or the family of Mohammed which took over the leadership of his movement upon his death. However there is plainly an agenda led by the USA to support the Sunnis in their spiralling regional conflict with the Shia.
This is not hard to rationalise. The ultra wealthy members of the Gulf regimes continue to act as the West’s proxies in the region and provide harbour to its neo-imperialist armed forces, while at the same time maintaining themselves a obscurantist version of Islam which would have horrified Mohammed and breaks virtually every precept of the Koran, particularly as regards treatment of women and of minority religions within their territory.
In Bahrain the large Shia majority is brutally repressed with active western collusion; in Saudi Arabia the Shia minority in the East is degraded. Iran is the great Shia bogey, and the West is so determined to maintain it as “the enemy” that they refuse the most basic diplomatic openings. The UK turned down an invitation to be represented at the inauguration of a new more moderate President and hold initial conversations. Meanwhile, Shia groups have mustered the only effective military resistance to Israeli aggression, and in Syria a Shia friendly regime is under intense pressure from the West and its Gulf allies. Peculiarly, in Iraq Western invasion resulted in the installation of a Shia regime, but that was only one of the entirely unforeseen consequences of that most stupid of invasions, and the Western response is to try to split up the country and fuel multiple insurgencies.
Meantime the CIA have now got a controlled and pro-Israeli military dictatorship back in power in Egypt, while the extraordinary complicity of the mainstream media and entire political class in the United States has never been more evident than in the acceptance that the military coup will not be designated a military coup. The manipulation of Western public opinion in the Syrian chemical weapons episode has, rarely, been too blatant to work. But events in Turkey and Egypt have shown that western public opinion is easily manipulated by the “secularist” angle. No matter how ugly political forces are – and in Turkey the Kemalists are very ugly – call them “secularist” and hide the rest, and you can attempt to topple elected governments in their favour with the full throated support of the media cheerleaders.
Last night’s vote in the Commons is welcome, but a blip. It owes more to political tribalism than to principle. Miliband and New Labour did not oppose military action, they merely wanted to be seen to be dictating the terms. As neither Tories nor Labour were prepared to accept the other’s terms for military action, the anti war minority could combine with the tribalists of each to make sure everything got defeated. Good but fortuitous.
The media are still in full war cry. Ashdown has never been so ashamed, apparently. He is not ashamed by extraordinary rendition and our torturing people. He is not ashamed of our responsibility for the death of hundreds of thousands in Iraq, with 2,000 people a day still meeting terrible deaths. He is ashamed that we don’t respond to the deaths of children by chemical weapons, we don’t really know at whose hands, by blasting to pieces a lot more children. Well, Paddy, you are a merciless fool who thinks a spiral of death is the answer, and I have never been more ashamed that I was for most of my adult life a member of the Liberal Democrats.
Ashdown did say bitterly that there was now no point in having such large armed forces. Hallelujah! The danger to the establishment that people might realise that spending more on weapons systems than on hospitals is a poor choice, is one reason this is not over. Much is at stake for the security state. Expect a mounting barrage of propaganda on the need for action in Syria. This is just the start.
Anon diversifies;
First you were decrying the right to be critical and advocating “fall in line behind your government” mantra! Now you are decrying the subject that is to be debated? What else will you be pointing out next? In what capacity are you posting here? Perhps you have self appointed yourself as; An Umpire, a Referee, the Blog Owner, An Arbiter, An Advocate ……?
Must be a change of shifts coming up…
“Not down on the farm this weekend, then, Anon?
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/man-banned-from-every-farm-in-the-country-after-admitting-sex-with-goat-8775808.html”
_____________________
A remarkably intolerant and stupid post from someone Komodo – who presents himself as one of the ‘intellectuals’ of the blog.
A stupid personal attack, containing no substance, which would surely have been deleted by our Moderator Jon had it been written by me, Villager, Kempe or its target, Anon.
************************
La vita è bella, life is good!
The biggest of the Big Obama Lies, 8/23: “If the US goes in and attacks another country without a UN mandate and without clear evidence that can be presented, then there are questions in terms of whether international law supports it.”
Liar. There are no questions. There is no support.
UN Charter Article 39: “The Security Council shall determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression and shall make recommendations, or decide what measures shall be taken in accordance with Articles 41 and 42, to maintain or restore international peace and security.”
UN Charter Article 48(1): “The action required to carry out the decisions of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security shall be taken by all the Members of the United Nations or by some of them, as the Security Council may determine.”
Use of force is above Obama’s pay grade. He doesn’t know his place. He’s not content to kiss the bankers’ asses. He longs to be in command.
Obama thinks you’re stupid. He thinks you can’t read. He thinks you will swallow his nonsensical passive-voice babbling without checking it against the supreme law of the land.
Use of nerve gas by Israel
Winston Churchill and chemical weapons
Excellent piece from Craig. One thing it leaves out is the water shortage and climate change issues that were at the bottom of the Syrian conflict but have gone largely unreported. I wrote about it briefly here with a link to Peter Gleick’s excellent piece here.
Amongst several posters here who automatically reinforce the Establishment narrative ive sensed an almost palpable disappointment at Cameron’s defeat in his mission to bomb more innocents to smithereens in order stop innocents being blown to smithereens.
And a mission based on not one shred of conclusive evidence.
Although John Kerry said he got his proof from Twitter and Youtube so it must be true…
@ Anon
“Anyone know why we have gone from current events in Egypt and Syria to bashing Winston Churchill?”
_____________________
Always willing to help a fellow critical-spirit!
The reason is that events have so far disproved the wilder theories and speculations (never mind accusations) of the Eminences. At the moment, they have egg on their fair faces.
So, a swift swerve sideways onto safer terrain on which – thanks to the passage of time – inconvenient facts don’t instantly disprove what’s being said.
Hi Habbabkuk, I see your pleas for patience with regard to speculation on Syria were ignored, so that now the Murrayistas have taken (bizarrely) to bashing Churchill in the absence of being able to label the current establishment “Fascist”. These people must live in a fascist state, you know, for sustenance. Give it a page or two and the Regulars will resume with their usual hobby horses, though the absence of Flaming Mary has been refreshing.
On the topic of moderation, Jon will reply that he cannot be in all places at all times to remove offending comments, but he will, of course, be ever-present and ready to delete comments by the names you mention. As it happens, being a generous sort of fellow I would rather prefer that Komodo’s comment remains, as it highlights his intellectual capacity for all to see.
Biff Vernon 30 Aug, 2013 – 4:43 pm
“…the water shortage and climate change issues that were at the bottom of the Syrian conflict but have gone largely unreported.”
Thanks for those links. I did not know about this at all.
Now that the damage is done, and strategy meetings curtailed, our local Cameronites have settled into garden-variety pot shots from the the gallery. They are a mite testy as their handlers swatted them with re-cheeked glee while they chastised the failure to prevent so many calls to MP’s.
What now? Yemen is still a possible back door to Iran. A poor menu of choices is better than none at all.
Ha, Habbabkuk, posted mine at the same time as yours. Great minds think alike!
“What now? Yemen is still a possible back door to Iran.”
Not really, Ben.
Anon 30 Aug, 2013 – 4:53 pm
“Hi Habbabkuk, I see your pleas for patience with regard to speculation on Syria were ignored…”
That is funny. Anon and havawank sound equally pompous to be one voice.
Anon,
“Ha, Habbabkuk, posted mine at the same time as yours. Great minds think alike!”
And fools seldom differ….
The hawks did not get their war and Cameron accepted it like a gentleman.
What is a Murrayista to do?
Why, tell the world that Churchill buggered boys and wanted to napalm the Soviet Union, of course!
DAMASCUS// Immediate action is needed to stop a water crisis in Syria from getting worse, international experts have warned.
Topic
Syria
I, too was unaware of this water issue. Water is the new oil, after all. It’s a global issue.
“The recommendation came after a Damascus conference on water use reported that national supplies had been cut in half between 2002 and 2008, partly through high rates of wastage.
During that six-year period, water resources fell from a relatively comfortable annual level of 1,200 cubic metres per person to fewer than 750 cubic metres, according to figures presented by researchers. The 700-cubic-metre threshold puts a country in the ranks of those unable to meet domestic demand.”
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/syrias-water-shortage-causes-alarm#ixzz2dT8QzlgN
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook
Jives 30 Aug, 2013 – 4:59 pm
Anon, “Ha, Habbabkuk, posted mine at the same time as yours. Great minds think alike!”
I generally fly by these empty comments so missed that one jives. He really said “great minds think alike.” That is fucking hilarious. It appears his great mind thinks in cliches.
http://www.infowars.com/shocking-story-that-could-derail-attack-on-syria/
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/08/30/commonsense-cup-tie-commons-1bollocks-2/
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-30/dont-show-obama-report-about-who-really-behind-syrian-chemical-attacks
Phil,
Indeed.Theyre like 6 yr olds in the playground trying to form an ickle gang and have to constantly high five and back one another up on the most pathetic points.
For professional tag-team propagandists its ridiculously childish,ineffective and really rather embarrassing and sad to witness such gormless tactics.
“It appears his great mind thinks in cliches.”
Coming from Phil, who thinks putting the word “fucking” in front of everything gives his posts edge, that really is hilarious.
@ P(h)illock from havawank
“I generally fly by these empty comments”
___________
Yeah, sure you do!
Hope your wings aren’t made of wax.
******************
La vita è bella, life is good! (“Volare, cantare, o,o,o,0”)
@ Anon
To be fair, I think it’s Corporal Fedup who’s the real “fucker” (so to speak)….
P(h)illock – as in real life, no doubt – comes in a very poor second.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-30/dont-show-obama-report-about-who-really-behind-syrian-chemical-attacks
Yeah. We want better quality Cameronites. It’s insulting that they send the third-string over to Craig. It’s more fun when there is some subtlety to the trope. Do they dress up as clowns to facilitate their roles here? Or maybe they could post laff-tracks along with the text so we know when they’re attempting humour? It couldn’t hurt.
TFS 30 Aug, 2013 – 5:10 pm
Come on mate, those links of yours. Alex Jones is an entertainer selling conspiracy to teenagers. The slog is a bigotted little shit whose arrogance is matched by the anonimity of his sources.
There is so much information available to condemn the elites of this world you do not need to rely on such clowns. If these people did not exist the cia would invent them. Or maybe they did…
Ben
Well quite so.
Tbe first string only get full time staff jobs at the Daily Mail…
🙂
” Alex Jones is an entertainer selling conspiracy to teenagers.”
Should fit right in, then.
“The slog is a bigotted little shit”
Love it, Phil. Keep them coming.
And what’s this, the CIA created them????
You’re a treat, Phil. You really are.
Newspaper report.
“Report: Police foil al-Nusra bomb attack planned for Adana”
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-316966-report-police-foil-al-nusra-bomb-attack-planned-for-adana.html
[Mod: sock-puppet posting in Habbabkuk’s name, removed]